2014ApJ...785..155B

Query : 2014ApJ...785..155B

2014ApJ...785..155B - Astrophys. J., 785, 155 (2014/April-3)

MOA-2011-BLG-262Lb: a sub-Earth-mass moon orbiting a gas giant primary or a high velocity planetary system in the galactic bulge.

BENNETT D.P., BATISTA V., BOND I.A., BENNETT C.S., SUZUKI D., BEAULIEU J.-P., UDALSKI A., DONATOWICZ J., BOZZA V., ABE F., BOTZLER C.S., FREEMAN M., FUKUNAGA D., FUKUI A., ITOW Y., KOSHIMOTO N., LING C.H., MASUDA K., MATSUBARA Y., MURAKI Y., NAMBA S., OHNISHI K., RATTENBURY N.J., SAITO TO., SULLIVAN D.J., SUMI T., SWEATMAN W.L., TRISTRAM P.J., TSURUMI N., WADA K., YOCK P.C.M. (The MOA Collaboration), ALBROW M.D., BACHELET E., BRILLANT S., CALDWELL J.A.R., CASSAN A., COLE A.A., CORRALES E., COUTURES C., DIETERS S., DOMINIS PRESTER D., FOUQUE P., GREENHILL J., HORNE K., KOO J.-R., KUBAS D., MARQUETTE J.-B., MARTIN R., MENZIES J.W., SAHU K.C., WAMBSGANSS J., WILLIAMS A., ZUB M. (The PLANET Collaboration), CHOI J.Y., DEPOY D.L., DONG S., GAUDI B.S., GOULD A., HAN C., HENDERSON C.B., McGREGOR D., LEE C.-U., POGGE R.W., SHIN I.-G., YEE J.C. (The {mu}FUN Collaboration), SZYMANSKI M.K., SKOWRON J., POLESKI R., KOZLOWSKI S., WYRZYKOWSKI L., KUBIAK M., PIETRUKOWICZ P., PIETRZYNSKI G., SOSZYNSKI I., ULACZYK K. (The OGLE Collaboration), TSAPRAS Y., STREET R.A., DOMINIK M., BRAMICH D.M., BROWNE P., HUNDERTMARK M., KAINS N., SNODGRASS C., STEELE I.A. (The RoboNet Collaboration), DEKANY I., GONZALEZ O.A., HEYROVSKY D., KANDORI R., KERINS E., LUCAS P.W., MINNITI D., NAGAYAMA T., REJKUBA M., ROBIN A.C. and SAITO R.

Abstract (from CDS):

We present the first microlensing candidate for a free-floating exoplanet-exomoon system, MOA-2011-BLG-262, with a primary lens mass of Mhost∼ 4 Jupiter masses hosting a sub-Earth mass moon. The argument for an exomoon hinges on the system being relatively close to the Sun. The data constrain the product MLπrel where MLis the lens system mass and πrelis the lens-source relative parallax. If the lens system is nearby (large πrel), then MLis small (a few Jupiter masses) and the companion is a sub-Earth-mass exomoon. The best-fit solution has a large lens-source relative proper motion, µrel= 19.6±1.6 mas/yr, which would rule out a distant lens system unless the source star has an unusually high proper motion. However, data from the OGLE collaboration nearly rule out a high source proper motion, so the exoplanet+exomoon model is the favored interpretation for the best fit model. However, there is an alternate solution that has a lower proper motion and fits the data almost as well. This solution is compatible with a distant (so stellar) host. A Bayesian analysis does not favor the exoplanet+exomoon interpretation, so Occam's razor favors a lens system in the bulge with host and companion masses of Mhost = 0.120.06+0.19M☉ and mcomp = 18–10+28 M_⊕, at a projected separation of a\bot = 0.84–014+0.25 AU. The existence of this degeneracy is an unlucky accident, so current microlensing experiments are in principle sensitive to exomoons. In some circumstances, it will be possible to definitively establish the mass of such lens systems through the microlensing parallax effect. Future experiments will be sensitive to less extreme exomoons.

Abstract Copyright: ∼

Journal keyword(s): gravitational lensing: micro - planetary systems

Simbad objects: 6

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Number of rows : 6
N Identifier Otype ICRS (J2000)
RA 		ICRS (J2000)
DEC 		Mag U Mag B Mag V Mag R Mag I Sp type #ref
1850 - 2026 		#notes
1 NAME Galactic Center reg 17 45 39.60213 -29 00 22.0000           ~ 16269 0
2 MOA 2010-BLG-418 * 17 54 45.110 -28 35 44.91           ~ 1 0
3 MOA 2011-BLG-262 * 18 00 23.480 -31 14 42.93           ~ 28 0
4 MOA-ip-10 * 18 09 00.076 -32 16 18.00           ~ 4 0
5 NAME Galactic Bulge reg ~ ~           ~ 4794 0
6 MOA 2009-BLG-450 * ~ ~           ~ 2 0

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