Discovery of a cool planet of 5.5 Earth masses through gravitational microlensing

Beaulieu, J.-P.; Bennett, D. P.; Fouqué, P.; Williams, A.; Dominik, M.; Jørgensen, U. G.; Kubas, D.; Cassan, A.; Coutures, C.; Greenhill, J.; Hill, K.; Menzies, J.; Sackett, P. D.; Albrow, M.; Brillant, S.; Caldwell, J. A. R.; Calitz, J. J.; Cook, K. H.; Corrales, E.; Desort, M.; Dieters, S.; Dominis, D.; Donatowicz, J.; Hoffman, M.; Kane, S.; Marquette, J.-B.; Martin, R.; Meintjes, P.; Pollard, K.; Sahu, K.; Vinter, C.; Wambsganss, J.; Woller, K.; Horne, K.; Steele, I.; Bramich, D. M.; Burgdorf, M.; Snodgrass, C.; Bode, M.; Udalski, A.; Szymański, M. K.; Kubiak, M.; Wiȩckowski, T.; Pietrzyński, G.; Soszyński, I.; Szewczyk, O.; Wyrzykowski, Ł.; Paczyński, B.; Abe, F.; Bond, I. A.; Britton, T. R.; Gilmore, A. C.; Hearnshaw, J. B.; Itow, Y.; Kamiya, K.; Kilmartin, P. M.; Korpela, A. V.; Masuda, K.; Matsubara, Y.; Motomura, M.; Muraki, Y.; Nakamura, S.; Okada, C.; Ohnishi, K.; Rattenbury, N. J.; Sako, T.; Sato, S.; Sasaki, M.; Sekiguchi, T.; Sullivan, D. J.; Tristram, P. J.; Yock, P. C. M.; Yoshioka, T.

Discovery of a cool planet of 5.5 Earth masses through gravitational microlensing

J.-P. Beaulieu (), D. P. Bennett, P. Fouqué, A. Williams, M. Dominik, U. G. Jørgensen, D. Kubas, A. Cassan, C. Coutures, J. Greenhill, K. Hill, J. Menzies, P. D. Sackett, M. Albrow, S. Brillant, J. A. R. Caldwell, J. J. Calitz, K. H. Cook, E. Corrales, M. Desort, S. Dieters, D. Dominis, J. Donatowicz, M. Hoffman, S. Kane, J.-B. Marquette, R. Martin, P. Meintjes, K. Pollard, K. Sahu, C. Vinter, J. Wambsganss, K. Woller, K. Horne, I. Steele, D. M. Bramich, M. Burgdorf, C. Snodgrass, M. Bode, A. Udalski, M. K. Szymański, M. Kubiak, T. Wiȩckowski, G. Pietrzyński, I. Soszyński, O. Szewczyk, Ł. Wyrzykowski, B. Paczyński, F. Abe, I. A. Bond, T. R. Britton, A. C. Gilmore, J. B. Hearnshaw, Y. Itow, K. Kamiya, P. M. Kilmartin, A. V. Korpela, K. Masuda, Y. Matsubara, M. Motomura, Y. Muraki, S. Nakamura, C. Okada, K. Ohnishi, N. J. Rattenbury, T. Sako, S. Sato, M. Sasaki, T. Sekiguchi, D. J. Sullivan, P. J. Tristram, P. C. M. Yock and T. Yoshioka
Additional contact information
J.-P. Beaulieu: PLANET/RoboNet Collaboration
D. P. Bennett: PLANET/RoboNet Collaboration
P. Fouqué: PLANET/RoboNet Collaboration
A. Williams: PLANET/RoboNet Collaboration
M. Dominik: PLANET/RoboNet Collaboration
U. G. Jørgensen: PLANET/RoboNet Collaboration
D. Kubas: PLANET/RoboNet Collaboration
A. Cassan: PLANET/RoboNet Collaboration
C. Coutures: PLANET/RoboNet Collaboration
J. Greenhill: PLANET/RoboNet Collaboration
K. Hill: PLANET/RoboNet Collaboration
J. Menzies: PLANET/RoboNet Collaboration
P. D. Sackett: PLANET/RoboNet Collaboration
M. Albrow: PLANET/RoboNet Collaboration
S. Brillant: PLANET/RoboNet Collaboration
J. A. R. Caldwell: PLANET/RoboNet Collaboration
J. J. Calitz: PLANET/RoboNet Collaboration
K. H. Cook: PLANET/RoboNet Collaboration
E. Corrales: PLANET/RoboNet Collaboration
M. Desort: PLANET/RoboNet Collaboration
S. Dieters: PLANET/RoboNet Collaboration
D. Dominis: PLANET/RoboNet Collaboration
J. Donatowicz: PLANET/RoboNet Collaboration
M. Hoffman: PLANET/RoboNet Collaboration
S. Kane: PLANET/RoboNet Collaboration
J.-B. Marquette: PLANET/RoboNet Collaboration
R. Martin: PLANET/RoboNet Collaboration
P. Meintjes: PLANET/RoboNet Collaboration
K. Pollard: PLANET/RoboNet Collaboration
K. Sahu: PLANET/RoboNet Collaboration
C. Vinter: PLANET/RoboNet Collaboration
J. Wambsganss: PLANET/RoboNet Collaboration
K. Woller: PLANET/RoboNet Collaboration
K. Horne: PLANET/RoboNet Collaboration
I. Steele: PLANET/RoboNet Collaboration
D. M. Bramich: PLANET/RoboNet Collaboration
M. Burgdorf: PLANET/RoboNet Collaboration
C. Snodgrass: PLANET/RoboNet Collaboration
M. Bode: PLANET/RoboNet Collaboration
A. Udalski: OGLE Collaboration
M. K. Szymański: OGLE Collaboration
M. Kubiak: OGLE Collaboration
T. Wiȩckowski: OGLE Collaboration
G. Pietrzyński: OGLE Collaboration
I. Soszyński: OGLE Collaboration
O. Szewczyk: OGLE Collaboration
Ł. Wyrzykowski: OGLE Collaboration
B. Paczyński: OGLE Collaboration
F. Abe: MOA Collaboration
I. A. Bond: MOA Collaboration
T. R. Britton: MOA Collaboration
A. C. Gilmore: MOA Collaboration
J. B. Hearnshaw: MOA Collaboration
Y. Itow: MOA Collaboration
K. Kamiya: MOA Collaboration
P. M. Kilmartin: MOA Collaboration
A. V. Korpela: MOA Collaboration
K. Masuda: MOA Collaboration
Y. Matsubara: MOA Collaboration
M. Motomura: MOA Collaboration
Y. Muraki: MOA Collaboration
S. Nakamura: MOA Collaboration
C. Okada: MOA Collaboration
K. Ohnishi: MOA Collaboration
N. J. Rattenbury: MOA Collaboration
T. Sako: MOA Collaboration
S. Sato: MOA Collaboration
M. Sasaki: MOA Collaboration
T. Sekiguchi: MOA Collaboration
D. J. Sullivan: MOA Collaboration
P. J. Tristram: MOA Collaboration
P. C. M. Yock: MOA Collaboration
T. Yoshioka: MOA Collaboration

Nature, 2006, vol. 439, issue 7075, 437-440

Abstract: Found worlds Over 170 extrasolar planets have so far been discovered, with a wide range of masses and orbital periods, but until last July no planet of Neptune's mass or less had been detected any more than 0.15 astronomical units (AU) from a normal star. (That's close — Earth is one AU from the Sun). On 11 July 2005 the OGLE Early Warning System recorded a notable event: gravitational lensing of light from a distant object by a foreground star revealed a small planet of about 5.5 Earth masses, orbiting at about 2.6 AU from the foreground star. This is the lowest known mass for an extrasolar planet orbiting a main sequence star, and its detection suggests that cool, sub-Neptune mass planets are more common than gas giants, as predicted by the favoured core accretion theory of planet formation.

Date: 2006
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DOI: 10.1038/nature04441

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