[astro-ph.EP] Free-Floating Planets (FFPs) are a distinct class of exoplanets that do not orbit stars but are nevertheless found to be very common. A variety of formation mechanisms have been […]
Nancy Grace Roman Galactic Exoplanet Survey
Posted inAstrochemistry, Astronomy & Telescopes, Biosignatures & Paleobiology, Exoplanets, -moons, -comets, Gas Giants, Ice Giant, Imaging & Spectroscopy, Press Release
NASA’s Roman Mission Preps to Unveil New Populations of Faraway Worlds
NASA’s Nancy Grace Roman Space Telescope is poised to make a major leap in the hunt for worlds outside our solar system, known as exoplanets. Scientists expect the mission to […]
Posted inAstronomy & Telescopes, Atmospheres, Climate, Weather, Biosignatures & Paleobiology, Exoplanets, -moons, -comets, Habitable Zones, Imaging & Spectroscopy, Missions & Hardware, Status Report
Early Architecture Concepts for the Habitable Worlds Observatory — System Design, Modeling, and Analysis
The Habitable Worlds Observatory (HWO), NASA’s next flagship science mission, follows in the tradition of the Nancy Grace Roman Space Telescope and other preceding great observatories. HWO will directly image […]
Posted inAstronomy & Telescopes, Exoplanets, -moons, -comets, Imaging & Spectroscopy, Status Report, Stellar Cartography
Predictions Of The Nancy Grace Roman Space Telescope Galactic Exoplanet Survey. V. Detection Rates of Multiplanetary Systems In High Magnification Microlensing Events
The Nancy Grace Roman Space Telescope will expand the reach of gravitational microlensing surveys by increasing the number of events monitored and the precision of their light curves.
![Maps of average lensing parameters of simulated microlensing events due to different BFFPs over the 2D space log10[s(AU)]−log10[Mtot(M⊕)]. Here, Fi and Fw are fractions of simulated microlensing events due to BFFPs with intermediate and wide caustic topologies, respectively. ρ? shows the source radius projected on the lens plane and normalized to the Einstein radius, Lc is a length scale for caustic curves, ∆c represents the caustic area, τ is a time scale for microlensing events due to BFFPs, and P is the orbital period of binary lenses. -- Monthly Notices of the Royal Astronomical Society](https://i0.wp.com/astrobiology.com/wp-content/uploads/2025/10/On-the-Detection-of-Binary-Free-Floating-Planets.png?resize=1200%2C720&ssl=1)
Posted inAstronomy & Telescopes, Brown Dwarfs, Exoplanets, -moons, -comets, Imaging & Spectroscopy, Status Report
On the Detection of Binary Free-Floating Planets in the Roman Galactic Exoplanet Survey
The recent discovery of 40 binary Jupiter-mass free-floating planets in the Trapezium cluster by the James Webb Space Telescope (Pearson & McCaughrean 2023) has opened new windows and questions in […]
Posted inAstronomy & Telescopes, Exoplanets, -moons, -comets, Imaging & Spectroscopy, Status Report
Predictions of the Nancy Grace Roman Space Telescope Galactic Exoplanet Survey. IV. Lens Mass and Distance Measurements
As part of the Galactic Bulge Time Domain Survey (GBTDS), the Nancy Grace Roman Galactic Exoplanet Survey (RGES) will use microlensing to discover cold outer planets and free-floating planets unbound […]
Posted inAstronomy & Telescopes, Exoplanets, -moons, -comets, Gaia Mission, Gas Giants, Imaging & Spectroscopy, Interstellar, Status Report, Stellar Cartography
A Candidate High-Velocity Exoplanet System In The Galactic Bulge
We present an analysis of adaptive optics (AO) images from the Keck-I telescope of the microlensing event MOA-2011-BLG-262. The original discovery paper by Bennett et al. 2014 reports two distinct […]
Posted inAstronomy & Telescopes, Exoplanets, -moons, -comets, Imaging & Spectroscopy, Status Report
Unveiling MOA-2007-BLG-192: An M Dwarf Hosting a Likely Super-Earth
We present an analysis of high angular resolution images of the microlensing target MOA-2007-BLG-192 using Keck adaptive optics and the Hubble Space Telescope.