We complete the survey for finite-source/point-lens (FSPL) giant-source events in 2016–2019 KMTNet microlensing data. The 30 FSPL events show a clear gap in Einstein radius, 9 μas < θE < 26 μas, which is consistent with the gap in Einstein timescales near tE ∼ 0.5 days found by Mr´oz et al. (2017) in an independent sample of point-source/point-lens (PSPL) events. We demonstrate that the two surveys are consistent. We estimate that the 4 events below this gap are due to a power-law distribution of freefloating planet candidates (FFPs) dNFFP/d logM = (0.4 ± 0.2) (M/38 M⊕)−p/star, with 0.9 ≲ p ≲ 1.2. There are substantially more FFPs than known bound planets, implying that the bound planet power-law index γ = 0.6 is likely shaped by the ejection process at least as much as by formation. The mass density per decade of FFPs in the Solar neighborhood is of the same order as that of ‘Oumuamua-like objects. In particular, if we assume that ‘Oumuamua is part of the same process that ejected the FFPs to very wide or unbound orbits, the power-law index is p = 0.89 ± 0.06. If the Solar System’s endowment of Neptune-mass objects in Neptune-like orbits is typical, which is consistent with the results of Poleski et al. (2021), then these could account for a substantial fraction of the FFPs in the Neptune-mass range.

We study the photometric phase curves for the planets of our solar system which can be considered as a prototypical non-compact planetary system. We focus on modeling the small variations caused by three effects: reflection, ellipsoidal, and Doppler beaming. Theoretical predictions for these photometric variations are proposed, considering a hypothetical external observer. Unlike similar studies of multi-planetary systems, the physical and geometrical parameters for each planet of the solar system are well-known. Therefore, we can accurately evaluate the relationships that shape the planetary light curves for a fictitious external observer. Our results suggest that, for all planets, the ellipsoidal effect is very weak while the Doppler beaming effect (DBE) is, in general, dominant. In fact, the DBE seems to be the principal cause of variations of the light curves for the planets of the solar system. However, for Mercury and Venus the Doppler beaming and reflection effects have similar amplitudes. The phase curves obtained for the planets of the solar system show new interesting features of interest for the study of other non-compact planetary systems.

Microlensing is generally thought to probe planetary systems only out to a few Einstein radii. Microlensing events generated by bound planets beyond about 10 Einstein radii generally do not yield any trace of their hosts, and so would be classified as free floating planets (FFPs). I show that it is already possible, using adaptive optics (AO), to constrain the presence of potential hosts to FFP candidates at separations comparable to the Oort Cloud. With next-generation telescopes, planets at Kuiper-Belt separations can be probed. Next generation telescopes will also permit routine vetting for all FFP candidates, simply by obtaining second epochs 4--8 years after the event.At present, the search for such hosts is restricted to within the ``confusion limit'' of θconfus ∼ 0.25 〃, but future WFIRST (Wide Field Infrared Survey Telescope) observations will allow one to probe beyond this confusion limit as well.

Spectra of re ected sunlight from Mars and Jupiter are presented. They were obtained from an educational 1-D array spectrograph covering almost a full range of visible wavelengths, 200 ~ 900 nm with 1 nm spectral resolution. The question was whether a spectral difference could be obtained between that of terrestrial planets and gas planets with an educational spectrograph. It was installed in a 12-inch re ecting telescope at the Korea Science Academy of KAIST in Busan. Both spectra show clear absorption lines of re ected sunlight. They shows differences oin line presence, but are not very significant. This work means that the spectrograph successfully observed the re ected spectra of planets and can detect dierences in spectra in terms of the absence and presence of absorption lines of planets.

The Kepler mission has shown that small planets are extremely common. It is likely that nearly every star in the sky hosts at least one rocky planet. We just need to look hard enough - but this requires vast amounts of telescope time. MINERVA (MINiature Exoplanet Radial Velocity Array) is a dedicated exoplanet observatory with the primary goal of discovering rocky, Earth-like planets orbiting in the habitable zone of bright, nearby stars. The MINERVA team is a collaboration among UNSW Australia, Harvard-Smithsonian Center for Astrophysics, Penn State University, University of Montana, and the California Institute of Technology. The four-telescope MINERVA array will be sited at the F.L. Whipple Observatory on Mt Hopkins in Arizona, USA. Full science operations will begin in mid-2015 with all four telescopes and a stabilised spectrograph capable of high-precision Doppler velocity measurements. We will observe ~100 of the nearest, brightest, Sun-like stars every night for at least five years. Detailed simulations of the target list and survey strategy lead us to expect 154 new low-mass planets.

Most of the stars in the Galaxy are in binary systems. Binaries should be possible as the hosting stars of planets. Searching for planetary companions to binaries, especially evolved close binary stars, can provide insight into the formation and the ultimate fate of circumbinary planets and shed light on the late evolution of binary stars. In order to do this, we have chosen some post common envelope binaries including sdB-type eclipsing binaries and detached WD+dM eclipsing binaries as our targets and monitored them for several years. In this paper, we will present some of our new observations and results for three targets, NSVS 07826147, NSVS14256825 and RR Cae.

In current microlensing planet searches that are being carried out in a survey/follow-up mode, the most important targets for follow-up observations are lensing events with high magnifications resulting from the very close approach of background source stars to the lens. In this paper, we investigate the dependence of the sensitivity to planets on detailed properties of high-magnification events. From this, it is found that the sensitivity does not monotonically increase as the impact parameter between the lens and the source trajectory decreases. Instead, it is roughly the same for events with impact parameters less than a certain threshold value. It is also found that events involving main-sequence source stars are sensitive to planets in a much wider range of separation and mass ratio, than those events involved with giant source stars. Based on these results, we propose observational strategies for maximal planet detections considering the types of telescopes available for follow-up observations.