AN EARTH-LIKE MICROLENSED PLANET
OGLE-2019-BLG-0960 b DISCOVERED: 2021 DETECTION METHOD:
MICROLENSING
Around 120 exoplanets have been found by the gravitational microlensing technique. Many of these bear the quirky prefix OGLE because they were detected by the Optical Gravitational Lensing Experiment. One of the most recent discoveries, OGLE-2019-BLG-0960 b, is particularly significant because it’s the smallest planet yet found by this method. Its discoverers estimate it to be between 1.4 and 3.1 times the mass of Earth, and that it orbits a star smaller than our own at a distance 1.2 to 2.3 times Earth’s distance from the Sun. The ‘BLG’ in OGLE-2019-BLG-0960 b’s name refers to the particular survey field it was located in, as illustrated above.