Detection of Exoplanets in M31 with Pixel-Lensing: The Event Pa-99-N2 Case

Abstract

We show that exoplanets in the M31 galaxy may be detected with the pixel-lensing method by using telescopes making high cadence observations of an ongoing microlensing event. Although the mean mass for detectable exoplanets is about $2 M_{\rm {J}}$, even small mass exoplanets ($M_{\rm P} < 20 M_{\oplus}$) can cause significant deviations, which are observable with large telescopes. We reanalysed the POINT-AGAPE microlensing event PA-99-N2. First, we test the robustness of the binary lens conclusion for this light curve. Second, we show that for such long duration and bright microlensing events, the efficiency for finding planetary-like deviations is strongly enhanced.

Paper in the proceedings of the "Twelfth Marcel Grosmann Meeting", held in Paris (France), 12-18, July, 2009