#microlensing — Public Fediverse posts

TESS Accidentally Finds a Planet 250 Times Farther Than It Was Ever Meant to See

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https://1ban.news/tess-microlensing-gaia23bra-b-accidental-planet/

#1ban #tess #microlensing #gaia23bra #accidental #tech

Fast Radio Bursts Reveal Two Intermediate-Mass Black Holes Hiding in the Dark

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https://1ban.news/frb-microlensing-intermediate-mass-black-holes/

#1ban #frb #microlensing #intermediate #mass #space

TESS Accidentally Finds a Planet 250 Times Farther Than It Was Ever Meant to See

https://1ban.news/tess-microlensing-gaia23bra-b-accidental-planet/
#1ban #tess #microlensing #gaia23bra #accidental #space

TESS Accidentally Finds a Planet 250 Times Farther Than It Was Ever Meant to See

https://1ban.news/tess-microlensing-gaia23bra-b-accidental-planet/
#1ban #tess #microlensing #gaia23bra #accidental #space

Bending Spacetime Reveals New Planet Hidden in Archived TESS Data

https://1ban.news/tess-microlensing-gaia23bra-planetary-system/
#1ban #tess #microlensing #gaia23bra #planetary #space

TESS’s First Bound #Microlensing Planet—A Binary Microlensing Event Revealing a Planetary Companion toward the Galactic Plane: https://iopscience.iop.org/article/10.3847/2041-8213/ae7a50 -> NASA’s TESS Mission Finds Planetary System in New Way: https://science.nasa.gov/missions/tess/nasas-tess-mission-finds-planetary-system-in-new-way/

TESS’s First Bound #Microlensing Planet—A Binary Microlensing Event Revealing a Planetary Companion toward the Galactic Plane: https://iopscience.iop.org/article/10.3847/2041-8213/ae7a50 -> NASA’s TESS Mission Finds Planetary System in New Way: https://science.nasa.gov/missions/tess/nasas-tess-mission-finds-planetary-system-in-new-way/

#ESA:
"
ESAs Euclid erfasst das dichte Zentrum der Milchstraße
"
".. Mit mehr als 60 Millionen Sternen eröffnet .. Bild Wissenschaftlern die Möglichkeit, die Existenz von Exoplaneten in dieser Region zu bestätigen und deren Masse anhand winziger Veränderungen des Sternenlichts im Laufe der Zeit zu messen."

https://www.esa.int/Space_in_Member_States/Germany/ESAs_Euclid_erfasst_das_dichte_Zentrum_der_Milchstrasse

24.6.2026

#Euclid #Exoplanet #Gravitationsmikrolinseneffekt #Microlensing #Milchstraße #Raumfahrt #SpaceFlight #Weltraumteleskop

#ESA:
"
ESAs Euclid erfasst das dichte Zentrum der Milchstraße
"
".. Mit mehr als 60 Millionen Sternen eröffnet .. Bild Wissenschaftlern die Möglichkeit, die Existenz von Exoplaneten in dieser Region zu bestätigen und deren Masse anhand winziger Veränderungen des Sternenlichts im Laufe der Zeit zu messen."

https://www.esa.int/Space_in_Member_States/Germany/ESAs_Euclid_erfasst_das_dichte_Zentrum_der_Milchstrasse

24.6.2026

#Euclid #Exoplanet #Gravitationsmikrolinseneffekt #Microlensing #Milchstraße #Raumfahrt #SpaceFlight #Weltraumteleskop

A Lunar-Mass #PrimordialBlackHole #Microlensing Candidate in the #MilkyWay Halo: https://arxiv.org/abs/2605.19375 -> StarXiv episode: https://starxiv.com/2026/05/25/episode-37-lunar-craters-primordial-black-holes-growing-galaxies/

A Lunar-Mass #PrimordialBlackHole #Microlensing Candidate in the #MilkyWay Halo: https://arxiv.org/abs/2605.19375 -> StarXiv episode: https://starxiv.com/2026/05/25/episode-37-lunar-craters-primordial-black-holes-growing-galaxies/

Where Are All the Intermediate Mass Black Holes? Microlensing Fast Radio Bursts Might Reveal Them
https://atlas.whatip.xyz/post.php?slug=where-are-all-the-intermediate-mass-black-holes-microlensing-fast-radio-bursts-might-reveal-them
Quick take: <p>In the heirarchy of black holes
#intermediate #microlensing #bursts #black

#Gravitational #microlensing has emerged as a transformative tool. It is an observational phenomenon predicted by General Relativity, wherein the gravitational field of a foreground object (the lens) bends and magnifies the light of a distant background star (the source).
#WhatIs #Astrophysics #Astronomy #sflorg
https://www.sflorg.com/2025/12/wi12142501.html

#Gravitational #microlensing has emerged as a transformative tool. It is an observational phenomenon predicted by General Relativity, wherein the gravitational field of a foreground object (the lens) bends and magnifies the light of a distant background star (the source).
#WhatIs #Astrophysics #Astronomy #sflorg
https://www.sflorg.com/2025/12/wi12142501.html

(25 Apr) New study: There are lots of icy super-Earths

&ldquo;Microlensing&rdquo; lets us find planets at much greater distances from their star.

https://s.faithcollapsing.com/i6bg6
Archive: ia: https://s.faithcollapsing.com/0ytdi

#astronomy #exoplanets #microlensing #science

(25 Apr) New study: There are lots of icy super-Earths

&ldquo;Microlensing&rdquo; lets us find planets at much greater distances from their star.

https://s.faithcollapsing.com/i6bg6
Archive: ia: https://s.faithcollapsing.com/0ytdi

#astronomy #exoplanets #microlensing #science

25-Apr-2025
Astronomers find Earth-like #exoplanets common across the cosmos
New study debunks a single planet-formation scenario
Using the Korea #Microlensing Telescope Network (KMTNet), an international team of researchers has discovered that super-Earth exoplanets are more common across the universe than previously thought.
https://www.eurekalert.org/news-releases/1081723 #science #astrobiology

25-Apr-2025
Astronomers find Earth-like #exoplanets common across the cosmos
New study debunks a single planet-formation scenario
Using the Korea #Microlensing Telescope Network (KMTNet), an international team of researchers has discovered that super-Earth exoplanets are more common across the universe than previously thought.
https://www.eurekalert.org/news-releases/1081723 #science #astrobiology

#Romanspacetelescope #microlensing survey will monitor 100 million #Stars over hundreds of days, likely detecting around 2,500 #exoplanets
https://indianf.com/nasa-nancy-grace-roman-space-telescope/#:~:text=Roman%E2%80%99s%20microlensing%20survey%20will%20monitor%20100%20million%20stars%20over%20hundreds%20of%20days%2C%20likely%20detecting%20around%202%2C500%20exoplanets

#Romanspacetelescope #microlensing survey will monitor 100 million #Stars over hundreds of days, likely detecting around 2,500 #exoplanets
https://indianf.com/nasa-nancy-grace-roman-space-telescope/#:~:text=Roman%E2%80%99s%20microlensing%20survey%20will%20monitor%20100%20million%20stars%20over%20hundreds%20of%20days%2C%20likely%20detecting%20around%202%2C500%20exoplanets

Detecting these microlensing events (planets passing in front of stars) is challenging.

"Over the previous decade, three independent sky-monitoring projects had found evidence of massive, Jupiter-like planets drifting alone through space. [..] Put these discoveries together, and you get not just a few oddities, but an entire, previously unknown class of celestial objects."

https://spectrum.ieee.org/rogue-planet

#Astronomy #Telescopes #ExoPlanets #Microlensing #Space

Detecting these microlensing events (planets passing in front of stars) is challenging.

"Over the previous decade, three independent sky-monitoring projects had found evidence of massive, Jupiter-like planets drifting alone through space. [..] Put these discoveries together, and you get not just a few oddities, but an entire, previously unknown class of celestial objects."

https://spectrum.ieee.org/rogue-planet

#Astronomy #Telescopes #ExoPlanets #Microlensing #Space

Predicting #astrometric #microlensing events from #Gaia Data Release 3: https://academic.oup.com/mnras/article/527/1/1177/7379784?login=false -> Gaia is so Accurate it Can Predict Microlensing Events: https://www.universetoday.com/164088/gaia-is-so-accurate-it-can-predict-microlensing-events/

Predicting #astrometric #microlensing events from #Gaia Data Release 3: https://academic.oup.com/mnras/article/527/1/1177/7379784?login=false -> Gaia is so Accurate it Can Predict Microlensing Events: https://www.universetoday.com/164088/gaia-is-so-accurate-it-can-predict-microlensing-events/

Nature Journal astronomy covers: 1993

The footprint of dark matter?

Feature articles on gravitational microlensing by dark objects by two collaborations: MACHO and EROS + News & Views paper "In search of the halo grail" by Craig J. Hogan

https://nature.com/nature/volumes/365/issues/6447

#darkmatter #machos #macho #eros #galaxy #milkyway #galaxies #lmc #star #stars #lensing #microlensing #universe #cosmology #astronomy #astrophysics #astrodon #space #science #research #nature #cover #naturecover

Nature Journal astronomy covers: 1993

The footprint of dark matter?

Feature articles on gravitational microlensing by dark objects by two collaborations: MACHO and EROS + News & Views paper "In search of the halo grail" by Craig J. Hogan

https://nature.com/nature/volumes/365/issues/6447

#darkmatter #machos #macho #eros #galaxy #milkyway #galaxies #lmc #star #stars #lensing #microlensing #universe #cosmology #astronomy #astrophysics #astrodon #space #science #research #nature #cover #naturecover

KMT-2021-BLG-1122 - the first #microlensing #triple #stellar system: https://arxiv.org/abs/2302.05613

KMT-2021-BLG-1122 - the first #microlensing #triple #stellar system: https://arxiv.org/abs/2302.05613

"Astronomers using the NASA/ESA #Hubble Space Telescope have for the first time directly measured the mass of a single, isolated white dwarf #star – the surviving core of a burned-out sunlike star."

Using gravitational #microlensing data, researchers determined the mass of the isolated white dwarf LAWD 37 is 0.56 times the mass of the Sun.

📷: NASA, ESA, P. McGill (Univ. of California, Santa Cruz and University of Cambridge), K. Sahu (STScI), J. Depasquale (STScI)

First semi-empirical test of the #whitedwarf mass-radius relationship using a single white dwarf via #astrometric #microlensing: https://arxiv.org/abs/2206.01814 -> Astronomers using NASA's #Hubble Space Telescope have for the first time directly measured the #mass of a single, isolated white dwarf: https://hubblesite.org/contents/news-releases/2023/news-2023-004

First semi-empirical test of the #whitedwarf mass-radius relationship using a single white dwarf via #astrometric #microlensing: https://arxiv.org/abs/2206.01814 -> Astronomers using NASA's #Hubble Space Telescope have for the first time directly measured the #mass of a single, isolated white dwarf: https://hubblesite.org/contents/news-releases/2023/news-2023-004

#Congratulations to my student, David Specht, now Dr David Specht, following his #PhDViva today. David's #thesis included the development of the most accurate and best tested model of #gravitational #microlensing in our #Galaxy, as well as modelling of the first #discovery from #space of an #exoplanet detected by the microlensing effect. I'm one proud #supervisor.

#Congratulations to my student, David Specht, now Dr David Specht, following his #PhDViva today. David's #thesis included the development of the most accurate and best tested model of #gravitational #microlensing in our #Galaxy, as well as modelling of the first #discovery from #space of an #exoplanet detected by the microlensing effect. I'm one proud #supervisor.

I'm very privileged in my job to go to amazing #astronomical observatories. This one is the #DanishTelescope at the #ESO #LaSilla #Observatory at the edge of the #Atacama desert in #Chile. I was inside the dome observing #microlensing events during the course of this #timelapse. Look out for the glorious view of the #Galactic Centre near the end.

If you like this, feel free to boost it so that others can enjoy it too.

https://youtu.be/JSXnMcy4Cj8

I'm very privileged in my job to go to amazing #astronomical observatories. This one is the #DanishTelescope at the #ESO #LaSilla #Observatory at the edge of the #Atacama desert in #Chile. I was inside the dome observing #microlensing events during the course of this #timelapse. Look out for the glorious view of the #Galactic Centre near the end.

If you like this, feel free to boost it so that others can enjoy it too.

https://youtu.be/JSXnMcy4Cj8

Great to see interest in my thread yesterday on #exoplanet detection using #microlensing.

https://astrodon.social/@eamonn_kerins/109308901344825202

I promised threads on 2 other topics: detecting exoplanet #atmospheres using #TransmissionSpectroscopy, and also on #SETI - the Search for #ExtraterrestrialIntelligence.

I'll leave the thread on exoplanet atmospheres to next month to chime (hopefully) with some new work we're doing here at the #UniversityOfManchester.

So, later this week, we'll talk about hunting for #aliens! 👽

Great to see interest in my thread yesterday on #exoplanet detection using #microlensing.

https://astrodon.social/@eamonn_kerins/109308901344825202

I promised threads on 2 other topics: detecting exoplanet #atmospheres using #TransmissionSpectroscopy, and also on #SETI - the Search for #ExtraterrestrialIntelligence.

I'll leave the thread on exoplanet atmospheres to next month to chime (hopefully) with some new work we're doing here at the #UniversityOfManchester.

So, later this week, we'll talk about hunting for #aliens! 👽

@nbatalha @ec_euclid #Microlensing can find #Earth mass #planets, though mostly around the most common stars (low mass). But maybe ~10% of them will involve FGK stars like the #Sun. Also, microlensing planets are typically found from just outside the outer #HabitableZone and beyond. By measuring their abundance we will get a constraint on abundances derived from transit+microlensing via interpolation across the HZ, so (hopefully) a more reliable overall measure of Earth analogues.

@nbatalha @ec_euclid I'm hoping so. But there are no guarantees yet since #euclid has to deliver on the #cosmology #science first and foremost. But I love the fact that one of #kepler's last acts (a mission that you were so deeply involved with of course!) was to find a #microlensing #planet. I feel like it's passing the baton on to #Roman to extend #census.

The last candidate we found was not an #FFP. Instead it was a bound #planet. In fact it is the most distant planet yet found by #Kepler and is twice as far away as the next most distant. It's the first bound planet to be discovered from #space using #microlensing. Remarkably it's of the closest analogues to Jupiter yet found, though it orbits a #star 60% the mass of the #Sun. Theory suggests it is almost too small to host a Jupiter. https://arxiv.org/abs/2203.16959 (8/n)

The last candidate we found was not an #FFP. Instead it was a bound #planet. In fact it is the most distant planet yet found by #Kepler and is twice as far away as the next most distant. It's the first bound planet to be discovered from #space using #microlensing. Remarkably it's of the closest analogues to Jupiter yet found, though it orbits a #star 60% the mass of the #Sun. Theory suggests it is almost too small to host a Jupiter. https://arxiv.org/abs/2203.16959 (8/n)

We recently tested out the idea of doing #microlensing from #space using the #NASA #Kepler #telescope. Kepler has so far found thousands of #exoplanets but using the #TransitMethod, not microlensing. But in 2016, before it stopped working, it did a mini microlensing survey. Kepler wasn't designed to do microlensing and colleagues spent years developing a #DataReduction pipeline that would work. Then, my #postdoc Iain McDonald and I built a sophisticated pipeline to find #planet candidates (6/n)

We recently tested out the idea of doing #microlensing from #space using the #NASA #Kepler #telescope. Kepler has so far found thousands of #exoplanets but using the #TransitMethod, not microlensing. But in 2016, before it stopped working, it did a mini microlensing survey. Kepler wasn't designed to do microlensing and colleagues spent years developing a #DataReduction pipeline that would work. Then, my #postdoc Iain McDonald and I built a sophisticated pipeline to find #planet candidates (6/n)

#ESA may also get in on the act. Whilst the main science goal of its @ec_euclid mission is #cosmology, #Euclid may conduct an #exoplanet #microlensing survey as an additional science project. Euclid even has an exoplanet #science #WorkingGroup. I'm current the deputy lead for that group and will be the co-lead next year. So I'm personally very excited about this possibility. As we've recently shown, Euclid and #Roman could even work together to improve the science: https://doi.org/10.1051/0004-6361/202140351 (5/n)

#ESA may also get in on the act. Whilst the main science goal of its @ec_euclid mission is #cosmology, #Euclid may conduct an #exoplanet #microlensing survey as an additional science project. Euclid even has an exoplanet #science #WorkingGroup. I'm current the deputy lead for that group and will be the co-lead next year. So I'm personally very excited about this possibility. As we've recently shown, Euclid and #Roman could even work together to improve the science: https://doi.org/10.1051/0004-6361/202140351 (5/n)

So far #microlensing surveys have been done mostly from the ground and it's hard work. We need to look at very crowded star fields close to the centre of our #Galaxy. But the #Earths #atmosphere blurs the stars, making it difficult to tell them apart. It would be easier to do this with a dedicated #space #telescope.

#NASA is currently building the #NancyGraceRomanSpaceTelescope. #Roman will conduct a dedicated microlensing survey capable of finding cool planets as small as #Mars. (4/n)

So far #microlensing surveys have been done mostly from the ground and it's hard work. We need to look at very crowded star fields close to the centre of our #Galaxy. But the #Earths #atmosphere blurs the stars, making it difficult to tell them apart. It would be easier to do this with a dedicated #space #telescope.

#NASA is currently building the #NancyGraceRomanSpaceTelescope. #Roman will conduct a dedicated microlensing survey capable of finding cool planets as small as #Mars. (4/n)

One method is #microlensing. #Einstein in his #Theory of #GeneralRelativity predicted that light can be deflected by #gravity. Microlensing is a great way to find cool #planets that orbit further out from their #HostStar than those that can be seen with the #TransitMethod. We can spot a number of these #signals each year by monitoring hundreds of millions of #stars every 15 minutes or so for several months per year. That's a lot of #data to process, but #computers are fast these days. (3/n)

Since I am new to #mastodon I'm going to do some threads about some #work I'm involved with. My areas or #research focus on #exoplanet #detection using the #microlensing technique, probing exoplanet #atmospheres using #TransmissionSpectroscopy, and also #GameTheory based approaches to #SETI - the Search for #ExtraTerrestialIntelligence.

Today I'll start with a 🧵 exoplanet detection with microlensing... (1/n)