Probing the Atmospheres of Planets Orbiting Microlensed Stars via Polarization Variability
Open Access
- 10 August 2000
- journal article
- research article
- Published by American Astronomical Society in The Astrophysical Journal
- Vol. 539 (1) , L63-L66
- https://doi.org/10.1086/312826
Abstract
We present a new method to identify and probe planetary companions of stars in the Galactic bulge and Magellanic Clouds using gravitational microlensing. While spectroscopic study of these planets is well beyond current observational techniques, monitoring polarization fluctuations during high-magnification events induced by binary microlensing events will probe the composition of the planetary atmospheres, an observation which otherwise is currently unattainable even for nearby planetary systems.Keywords
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