Tag

Microlensing

All articles tagged with #microlensing

science23 hours ago•11 min saved

First Rogue Planet Mass Measured Confirms Galactic Population of Free-Floaters

Astronomers using a microlensing event observed from Earth and Gaia have measured both the mass and distance of a rogue planet about 9,800 light-years away, finding it Saturn-mass and confirming that the Milky Way hosts billions to possibly trillions of such starless worlds; the result leverages mass-distance measurements previously difficult for rogue planets and points to future surveys by the Roman Space Telescope to uncover many more.

via Space Daily|

#exoplanets #gaia #microlensing

space3 days ago•15 min saved

Roman Space Telescope could census exoplanets across the galaxy in one mission

NASA’s Nancy Grace Roman Space Telescope, slated for launch on August 30, 2026, could detect tens to hundreds of thousands of exoplanet signals (roughly 60k–200k transiting planets, with ~100k often cited) via microlensing toward the Galactic bulge and high-cadence transit monitoring, creating a galaxy-wide planetary census rather than a simple list of confirmed worlds. Many detections will be planet candidates needing follow-up; the mission aims to map how planet populations vary with distance from the galactic center and environment, complementing Kepler and other missions. Roman features a 2.4-meter mirror, a wide field of view, a 300-megapixel infrared camera, and will operate from the Sun–Earth L2 point, including a coronagraph demonstration for direct-light studies.

via Space Daily|

#exoplanets #galactic-bulge #microlensing

space4 days ago•104 min saved

Einstein-powered microlensing uncovers a distant exoplanet in TESS data

NASA's TESS has detected Gaia23bra b using gravitational microlensing—a method based on Einstein's general relativity—marking a rare microlensing planet found in TESS data. Hints first appeared in Gaia data in 2023; Gaia23bra b weighs about 1.6 Jupiter masses and orbits an orange-dwarf star roughly 40,000 light-years away, far beyond TESS's typical transit range. This discovery shows microlensing can reveal planets that transit methods miss and foreshadows Roman Space Telescope-led microlensing surveys, which could uncover many more such worlds.

via Space|

#exoplanets #gaia23bra-b #general-relativity

science9 days ago•41 min saved

Milky Way’s Core Revealed by Euclid, Hinting at a Galaxy Teeming with Exoplanets

The European Space Agency’s Euclid telescope captured nine visible-light images of the Milky Way’s center over 26 hours, revealing about 60 million stars in a patch the size of a full Moon; although built to study dark matter and dark energy, its microlensing observations could map tens of thousands to hundreds of thousands of exoplanets across the galaxy, signaling a new era of exoplanet discovery alongside other space telescopes.

via Good News Network|

#dark-matter-and-dark-energy #euclid-telescope #exoplanets

space13 days ago•5 min saved

Euclid Captures the Milky Way's Crowded Core in Unprecedented Detail

The European Space Agency’s Euclid space telescope produced the largest, most detailed visible-light image of the Milky Way’s center—the galactic bulge—showing more than 60 million stars in a mosaic of nine pointings. While no new microlensing events were identified during the 26-hour campaign, the data will enable precise mass measurements of known exoplanets and serve as a reference archive for future missions like NASA’s Roman telescope, supporting deeper exoplanet studies, brown dwarfs, binary stars, and galactic dust research.

via WIRED|

#euclid-telescope #exoplanets #galactic-bulge

science16 days ago•4 min saved

Euclid Captures Milky Way’s Crowded Core in Record-Setting Visible-Light Mosaic

The European Space Agency's Euclid space telescope produced the largest high‑resolution visible-light image of the Milky Way’s bright center—a nine‑exposure mosaic covering a region larger than the Moon and capturing about 60 million stars over 26 hours; color was added from the Canada-France-Hawaii Telescope. While it won’t directly reveal new exoplanets, the data will help microlensing measurements weigh known and future planets and advance studies of dark matter and dark energy.

via ScienceAlert|

#astronomy #euclid-space-telescope #exoplanets

space16 days ago•8 min saved

Euclid’s Milky Way Preview Boosts Roman’s Galactic Bulge Survey

ESA’s Euclid captured a Milky Way core snapshot to precede NASA’s Roman Space Telescope’s deep Galactic Bulge survey. By adding Euclid’s one-day preview to Roman’s planned observations, scientists will extend the survey window, improve Milky Way mapping, and enhance the detection of microlensing events that can reveal exoplanets and wandering stellar-mass black holes.

via NASA (.gov)|

#black-holes #euclid #microlensing

space16 days ago•97 min saved

Milky Way's Core Captured: Euclid Unveils 60 Million Stars and 50 Exoplanet Clues

ESA’s Euclid telescope spent 26 hours in 2025 image‑capturing the Milky Way’s galactic bulge, yielding the largest high‑resolution visible-light image of the region with about 60 million stars and 51 known exoplanet systems. The dataset will help microlensing searches for planets—potentially revealing ice giants at wide orbits—and will serve as a time reference for past and future missions like the Roman Space Telescope, while advancing studies of stellar motions and galactic dust.

via Space|

#euclid #exoplanets #galactic-bulge

space16 days ago•3 min saved

Euclid reveals 60 million stars in unprecedented Milky Way center view

ESA’s Euclid telescope produced a 26‑hour mosaic of the Milky Way’s bulge, unveiling more than 60 million stars in the central region and enabling precise stellar motions to improve exoplanet detection via microlensing; the work complements NASA’s upcoming Roman telescope, which is expected to find about 1,500 microlensing planets and could push the galactic exoplanet count beyond 100,000.

via The Guardian|

#euclid-telescope #exoplanets #galactic-bulge

space16 days ago•7 min saved

Euclid captures the Milky Way’s crowded heart to weigh exoplanets

ESA's Euclid produced the largest, most detailed visible-light image of the Milky Way's central bulge, cataloging over 60 million stars in a nine-pointing mosaic captured in ~26 hours. The view enables microlensing studies to detect and measure exoplanets in our galaxy and will serve as a past/future time reference for the Roman telescope; the data already include hosts of known cold exoplanets such as OGLE-2005-BLG-390Lb and OGLE-2013-BLG-341Lb.

via European Space Agency|

#euclid #exoplanets #galactic-center

space1 month ago•7 min saved

Moon-Mass Primordial Black Hole Hinted by Stellar Microlensing Event

Astronomers analyzing a 2019 microlensing flare of a star in the Large Magellanic Cloud say the signal is best explained by a moon-mass primordial black hole—Phoebe—likely in the Milky Way's dark matter halo about 60,000 light-years away. While a rogue exoplanet could cause similar lensing, the PBH explanation is favored and, if confirmed, would illuminate dark matter and early-universe physics and spur high-cadence microlensing surveys with the Roman and Vera Rubin observatories. Some related analyses (e.g., Andromeda PBH candidates) have contested the PBH interpretation, so confirmation will require more sensitive observations.

via ScienceAlert|

#dark-matter-halo #decam-ampm-survey #large-magellanic-cloud

space1 month ago•13 min saved

NASA's Roman Space Telescope set to chart a 100,000-planet census and rogue worlds

NASA’s Nancy Grace Roman Space Telescope, slated for launch by May 2027, will conduct a five-year survey that could detect about 100,000 transiting exoplanets and assemble the largest catalogue of rogue planets via gravitational microlensing, complemented by a coronagraphic program to image select giant planets. The mission combines a Wide Field Instrument for transit hunting with a Galactic Bulge Time-Domain Survey that observes six bulge fields in high cadence to capture microlensing events, enabling population-level statistics on planet occurrence—such as Earth-sized planets in habitable zones—and on rogue planets roaming the galaxy, far beyond the roughly 6,000 confirmed exoplanets today.

via Space Daily|

#exoplanets #microlensing #nasa

science2 months ago•8 min saved

Hubble Preps Roman for the Milky Way's Bulge Microlensing Hunt

Hubble's precursor imaging of the Milky Way's galactic bulge will calibrate and guide NASA's Nancy Grace Roman Space Telescope’s upcoming Galactic Bulge Time-Domain Survey, enabling precise mass measurements and a census of microlensing events, rogue planets, and compact objects, with six 72‑day seasons and high-cadence observations ahead of Roman's 2026 launch.

via NASA Science (.gov)|

#exoplanets #galactic-bulge #hubble-space-telescope

space2 months ago•7 min saved

Roman Telescope to Uncover Hidden Neutron Stars Through Microlensing

NASA’s Nancy Grace Roman Space Telescope could detect isolated neutron stars—previously invisible to most telescopes—by using astrometric microlensing during its Galactic Bulge Time Domain Survey, enabling direct mass measurements and advancing understanding of neutron star and black hole populations.

via The Daily Galaxy|

#astrometry #galactic-bulge-time-domain-survey #microlensing

science2 months ago•6 min saved

Roman Space Telescope Could Weigh Hidden Neutron Stars via Gravitational Microlensing

NASA’s Nancy Grace Roman Space Telescope could spot and weigh isolated neutron stars in the Milky Way using astrometric microlensing in its Galactic Bulge Time Domain Survey; by tracking tiny shifts in background starlight as a neutron star passes in front, Roman can directly measure the masses of otherwise invisible remnants, helping map the neutron star–black hole population and shedding light on neutron-star birth kicks, with even a few detections significantly advancing stellar evolution models.

via NASA (.gov)|

#astrometry #gravitational-lensing #microlensing