Candidates for Transiting Planets in OGLE-IV Galactic Bulge Fields

TL;DR

This study used 10-year OGLE-IV photometry to identify 99 high-probability transiting exoplanet candidates in the Galactic bulge, expanding the search to a wider distance range and including diverse planetary sizes.

Contribution

It presents a large-scale, long-term transit search in the Galactic bulge, discovering new candidates and demonstrating the potential for future confirmation and detailed studies.

Findings

Identified 99 high-probability transiting exoplanet candidates.

Candidates span distances from 0.4 to 5.5 kpc, wider than previous surveys.

Discovered a candidate in the hot Neptune desert, OGLE-TR-1003b.

Abstract

We present results of a search for transiting exoplanets in 10-yr long photometry with thousands of epochs taken in the direction of the Galactic bulge. This photometry was collected in the fourth phase of the Optical Gravitational Lensing Experiment (OGLE-IV). Our search covered approx. 222 000 stars brighter than I = 15.5 mag. Selected transits were verified using a probabilistic method. The search resulted in 99 high-probability candidates for transiting exoplanets. The estimated distances to these targets are between 0.4 kpc and 5.5 kpc, which is a significantly wider range than for previous transit searches. The planets found are Jupiter-size, with the exception of one (named OGLE-TR-1003b) located in the hot Neptune desert. If the candidate is confirmed, it can be important for studies of highly irradiated intermediate-size planets. The existing long-term, high-cadence photometry of our candidates increases the chances of detecting transit timing variations at long timescales. Selected candidates will be observed by the future NASA flagship mission, the Nancy Grace Roman Space Telescope, in its search for Galactic bulge microlensing events, which will further enhance the photometric coverage of these stars.