Campaign 9 of the K2 mission: Observational parameters, scientific drivers, and community involvement for a simultaneous space-and ground-based microlensing survey

Authors

Calen B. Henderson, Jet Propulsion Laboratory
Radosław Poleski, The Ohio State University
Matthew Penny, The Ohio State University
Rachel A. Street, Las Cumbres Observatory Global Telescope Network, Inc
David P. Bennett, NASA Goddard Space Flight Center
David W. Hogg, The Center for Cosmology and Particle Physics
B. Scott Gaudi, The Ohio State University
W. Zhu, The Ohio State University
T. Barclay, NASA Ames Research Center
G. Barentsen, NASA Ames Research Center
S. B. Howell, NASA Ames Research Center
F. Mullally, NASA Ames Research Center
A. Udalski, Uniwersytet Warszawski
M. K. Szymański, Uniwersytet Warszawski
J. Skowron, Uniwersytet Warszawski
P. Mróz, Uniwersytet Warszawski
S. Kozłowski, Uniwersytet Warszawski
Wyrzykowski, Uniwersytet Warszawski
P. Pietrukowicz, Uniwersytet Warszawski
I. Soszyński, Uniwersytet Warszawski
K. Ulaczyk, Uniwersytet Warszawski
M. Pawlak, Uniwersytet Warszawski
T. Sumi, Osaka University
F. Abe, Nagoya University
Y. Asakura, Osaka University
R. K. Barry, NASA Goddard Space Flight Center
A. Bhattacharya, University of Notre Dame
I. A. Bond, Massey University Auckland
M. Donachie, The University of Auckland
M. Freeman, The University of Auckland
A. Fukui, National Institutes of Natural Sciences - National Astronomical Observatory of Japan
Y. Hirao, Osaka University
Y. Itow, Nagoya University

Document Type

Article

Publication Date

12-1-2016

Abstract

K2ʼs Campaign 9 (K2C9) will conduct a ∼3.7 deg2 survey toward the Galactic bulge from 2016 April 22 through July 2 that will leverage the spatial separation between K2 and the Earth to facilitate measurement of the microlens parallax πE for ≳170 microlensing events. These will include several that are planetary in nature as well as many short-timescale microlensing events, which are potentially indicative of free-floating planets (FFPs). These satellite parallax measurements will in turn allow for the direct measurement of the masses of and distances to the lensing systems. In this article we provide an overview of the K2C9 space- and ground-based microlensing survey. Specifically, we detail the demographic questions that can be addressed by this program, including the frequency of FFPs and the Galactic distribution of exoplanets, the observational parameters of K2C9, and the array of resources dedicated to concurrent observations. Finally, we outline the avenues through which the larger community can become involved, and generally encourage participation in K2C9, which constitutes an important pathfinding mission and community exercise in anticipation of WFIRST.

Publication Source (Journal or Book title)

Publications of the Astronomical Society of the Pacific

Recommended Citation

Henderson, C., Poleski, R., Penny, M., Street, R., Bennett, D., Hogg, D., Scott Gaudi, B., Zhu, W., Barclay, T., Barentsen, G., Howell, S., Mullally, F., Udalski, A., Szymański, M., Skowron, J., Mróz, P., Kozłowski, S., Wyrzykowski., Pietrukowicz, P., Soszyński, I., Ulaczyk, K., Pawlak, M., Sumi, T., Abe, F., Asakura, Y., Barry, R., Bhattacharya, A., Bond, I., Donachie, M., Freeman, M., Fukui, A., Hirao, Y., & Itow, Y. (2016). Campaign 9 of the K2 mission: Observational parameters, scientific drivers, and community involvement for a simultaneous space-and ground-based microlensing survey. Publications of the Astronomical Society of the Pacific, 128 (970) https://doi.org/10.1088/1538-3873/128/970/124401