Parallax Effect in Microlensing Events Due to Free-floating Planets

Abstract

One of the most important applications of microlensing observations is the detection of free-floating planets (FFPs). The timescale of microlensing due to FFPs ( t _E ) is short (a few days). Discerning the annual parallax effect in observations of these short-duration events due to FFPs by one observer is barely possible, though their parallax amplitude is larger than that in common events. In microlensing events due to FFPs, the lens–source relative trajectory alters because of the observer’s motion by δ u . This deviation is a straight line as long as t _E ≪ P _⊕ , and its size is δ u ∝ π _rel ( P _⊕ is the observer’s orbital period). So, most observed microlensing events due to close FFPs have simple Paczyńsky light curves with indiscernible but important parallax. To evaluate the destructive effects of invisible parallax in such events, we simulate ∼9650 microlensing events due to FFPs with t _E 0.1 and δ ρ _⋆ > 0.1. Our study reveals the importance of simultaneous and dense observations of the same microlensing events viewed by Roman by other observers circling the Sun in different orbits.

Keywords

• Gravitational microlensing exoplanet detection
• Microlensing parallax
• Gravitational microlensing
• Annual microlensing parallax
• Free floating planets