2025/05/15 by Aparna Bhattacharya, Bhattacharya, Aparna
Physics and Astronomy · #Astronomy and Astrophysical Research #Astrophysics of Galaxies (astro-ph.GA) #Earth and Planetary Astrophysics (astro-ph.EP) #FOS: Physical sciences #Space Science and Extraterrestrial Life #Stellar, planetary, and galactic studies
paper · pdf · doi:10.48550/arxiv.2505.10621
openalex publication_date 2025/05/15 · openalex created_date 2025/10/10 · openalex updated_date 2026/07/28
Microlensing is the method of exoplanet detection that discovers solar system analog exoplanets. These are planets low in mass located in wide orbits around their host stars. Even though thousands of exoplanets are discovered, they are mostly hot planets close to their hosts. There is a dearth of exoplanets discovered beyond the snowline where exoplanets are thought to be formed. This was recognized as a very important science issue; 2010 decadal survey declared detecting exoplanets with microlensing and measuring their masses as one of the three main science goals of NASA's next flagship mission, Nancy Grace Roman Space Telescope. Nancy Grace Roman Space Telescope is scheduled to launch in late 2026, no later than May 2027. It will observe 6 seasons of galactic bulge to discover and measure masses of 1000+ such wide orbit low mass solar system analog planets.