Probing structures of distant extrasolar planets with microlensing

被引:14
|
作者
Gaudi, BS
Chang, HY
Han, CH
机构
[1] Inst Adv Study, Sch Nat Sci, Princeton, NJ 08540 USA
[2] Korea Inst Adv Study, Seoul 130012, South Korea
[3] Chungbuk Natl Univ, Inst Basic Sci Res, Dept Phys, Chonju 361763, South Korea
来源
ASTROPHYSICAL JOURNAL | 2003年 / 586卷 / 01期
关键词
gravitational lensing; planets and satellites : general; planets : rings;
D O I
10.1086/367539
中图分类号
P1 [天文学];
学科分类号
0704 ;
摘要
Planetary companions to the source stars of a caustic-crossing binary microlensing events can be detected via the deviation from the parent light curves created when the caustic magnifies the starlight reflecting off the atmosphere or surface of the planets. The magnitude of the deviation is delta(p) similar to epsilon(p)rho(p)(-1/2), where epsilon(p) is the fraction of starlight reflected by the planet and rho(p) is the angular radius of the planet in units of the angular Einstein ring radius. Because of the extraordinarily high resolution achieved during the caustic crossing, the detailed shapes of these perturbations are sensitive to ne structures on and around the planets. We consider the signatures of rings, satellites, and atmospheric features on caustic-crossing microlensing light curves. We find that, for reasonable assumptions, rings produce deviations of the order of 10%delta(p), whereas satellites, spots, and zonal bands produce deviations of the order of 1%delta(p). We consider the detectability of these features using current and future telescopes and find that, with very large apertures ( > 30 m), ring systems may be detectable, whereas spots, satellites, and zonal bands will generally be difficult to detect. We also present a short discussion of the stability of rings around close-in planets, noting that rings are likely to be lost to Poynting-Robertson drag on a timescale of the order of 10(5) yr, unless they are composed of large (>>1 cm) particles or are stabilized by satellites.
引用
收藏
页码:527 / 539
页数:13
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