Gravitational Microlensing and the Search for Earth-like Exoplanets
In a white paper released yesterday, available online now here, astronomers address the question of where in the sky would be good candidates for observing the micro-lensing effects of exoplanets. Gravitational micro-lensing is a technique which utilizing the General Relativisitic effect that gravity has on light, allowing any massive object to act like a lens if directly in line with light from a more distant object. The authors argue that “out of the five popular planet detection techniques,
Gravitational Microlensing is the most capable of detecting rocky, earth-sized planets and seems to be more promising in the search for other habitable worlds.” Thus, they offer to astronomers “a distribution map for probability of finding stars within the Milky Way Galaxy that could harbor terrestrial planets capable of hosting life, with a particular emphasis on the Microlensing detection of exoplanets.”