D. P. Bennett (Notre Dame)
A space-based gravitational microlensing survey will provide a uniquely powerful tool for detecting planets like those in our own Solar System, and will be able to detect analogs to all the Solar System's planets except for Mercury and Pluto. It is generally understood that the planet:star mass ratio can be determined directly from the microlensing light curve, I show that the light curve data can also be used to determine the planetary and stellar masses. This is illustrated with the light curve constraints on the planetary and stellar masses for the planet jointly discovered by the OGLE and MOA collaborations. For the high quality light curves from a space-based survey, planetary events such as this will routinely produce accurate mass measurements.
Bulletin of the American Astronomical Society, 37 #2
© 2005. The American Astronomical Soceity.