A rogue planet, also termed a free-floating planet (FFP) or an isolated planetary-mass object (iPMO), is an interstellar object of planetary mass which is not gravitationally bound to any star or brown dwarf.
Gravitational microlensing is an astronomical phenomenon caused by the gravitational lens effect. It can be used to detect objects that range from the mass of a planet to the mass of a star, regardless of the light they emit. Typically, astronomers can only detect bright objects that emit much light (stars) or large objects that block background light. These objects make up only a minor portion of the mass of a galaxy. Microlensing allows the study of objects that emit little or no light.
The Optical Gravitational Lensing Experiment (OGLE) is a Polish astronomical project based at the University of Warsaw that runs a long-term variability sky survey (1992–present). The main goals are the detection and classification of variable stars, discovery of microlensing events, dwarf novae, and studies of the structure of the Galaxy and the Magellanic Clouds. Since the project began in 1992, it has discovered a multitude of extrasolar planets, together with the first planet discovered using the transit method (OGLE-TR-56b) and gravitational microlensing. The project has been led by professor Andrzej Udalski since its inception.
Microlensing Observations in Astrophysics (MOA) is a collaborative project between researchers in New Zealand and Japan, led by Professor Yasushi Muraki of Nagoya University. They use microlensing to observe dark matter, extra-solar planets, and stellar atmospheres from the Southern Hemisphere. The group concentrates especially on the detection and observation of gravitational microlensing events of high magnification, of order 100 or more, as these provide the greatest sensitivity to extrasolar planets. They work with other groups in Australia, the United States and elsewhere. Observations are conducted at New Zealand's Mt. John University Observatory using a 1.8 m (70.9 in) reflector telescope built for the project.
OGLE-2003-BLG-235L (MOA-2003-BLG-53L) is a star in the constellation of Sagittarius. The first gravitational microlensing event for which a planet orbiting the lens was detected around this star. The event occurred in during July 2003. Two groups observed and independently detected the event: the Optical Gravitational Lensing Experiment (OGLE) and the Microlensing Observations in Astrophysics (MOA), hence, the double designation. It is an orange dwarf star of spectral type K, which is accompanied by a giant planet.
OGLE-2005-BLG-071L is a distant, magnitude 19.5 galactic bulge star located in the constellation Scorpius, approximately 11,000 light years away from the Solar System. The star is probably a red dwarf with a mass 43% of that of the Sun.
OGLE-2005-BLG-071Lb is a planet discovered by the Optical Gravitational Lensing Experiment (OGLE) and others in 2005, using gravitational microlensing. According to the best fit model, it has about 3.5 times the mass of Jupiter and a projected separation of 3.6 astronomical units from the star. This would result in an effective temperature around 50 K, similar to that of Neptune. However, an alternative model which gives a slightly lower mass of 3.3 times that of Jupiter and a projected separation of 2.1 AU is only slightly less likely. It may be the most massive planet currently known around a red dwarf star.
MOA-2007-BLG-192Lb, occasionally shortened to MOA-192 b, is an extrasolar planet approximately 7,000 light-years away in the constellation of Sagittarius. The planet was discovered orbiting the low-mass star MOA-2007-BLG-192L. It was found when it caused a gravitational microlensing event on May 24, 2007, which was detected as part of the MOA-II microlensing survey at the Mount John University Observatory in New Zealand.
The Microlensing Follow-Up Network is an informal group of observers who monitor high magnification gravitational microlensing events in the Milky Way's Galactic Bulge. Its goal is to detect extrasolar planets via microlensing of the parent star by the planet. μFUN is a follow-up network - they monitor microlensing events identified by survey groups such as OGLE and Microlensing Observations in Astrophysics (MOA).
OGLE-2019-BLG-0960Lb is an exoplanet that was discovered in January 2021 by gravitational microlensing. It is approximately twice the mass of Earth, making it a super-Earth. At the time of discovery, it was the lowest mass-ratio planet to be detected via microlensing; that is, the least massive planet relative to the mass of its host star. Its host star, OGLE-2019-BLG-0960L, has an mass between 0.3 and 0.6 M☉.
A rogue black hole is an interstellar or intergalactic black hole.
Gaia BH1 is a binary system consisting of a G-type main-sequence star and a likely stellar-mass black hole, located about 1,560 light-years (478 pc) away from the Solar System in the constellation of Ophiuchus. As of May 2024, it is the nearest known system that astronomers are reasonably confident contains a black hole, followed by Gaia BH3, Gaia BH2 and A0620-00.
OGLE-2012-BLG-0950Lb is a sub-Saturn (super-Neptune)-type planet 2,600 parsecs (8,500 ly) away with 39 or 35 Earth masses. This type of planet was once thought to be extremely rare because of runaway gas accretion, which would create a gap between 4 and 8 Earth radii or 20 and 80 Earth masses, peaking around 32-64 Earth masses. The planet is 2.6 AU from its star. It is likely near-impossible to know much else about the planet's properties because it was detected by gravitational microlensing. The mass of the host star is approximately 0.56 solar masses. This exoplanet was the first to have its mass found out using only microlens parallax and lens flux.
