Identification of Exoplanet Host Star OGLE-2005-BLG-169 (Artist’s Illustration)

This graphic illustrates how a star can magnify and brighten the light of a background star when it passes in front of the distant star. If the foreground star has planets, then the planets may also magnify the light of the background star, but for a much shorter period of time than their host star. Astronomers use this method, called gravitational microlensing, to identify planets.

About the data

The HST observations of OGLE-2005-BLG-169Lb were taken in conjunction with proposal 12541 , PI: D. Bennett (University of Notre Dame), J. Anderson (STScI), I. Bond (Massey University, New Zealand), J.-P. Beaulieu (Institut d'Astrophysique de Paris), P. Yock (University of Auckland), P. Fouque (Observatoire Midi-Pyrenees), and T. Sumi (Osaka University).

The science team comprises: D. Bennett and A. Bhattacharya (University of Notre Dame), J. Anderson (STScI), I. Bond (Massey University, New Zealand), N. Anderson and R. Barry (NASA/GSFC), V. Batista and J.-P. Beaulieu (Institut d'Astrophysique de Paris), D. DePoy (Texas A&M University), S. Dong (Kavli Institute for Astronomy and Astrophysics/Peking University), B. Gaudi (Ohio State University), E. Gilbert (NASA/GSFC), A. Gould (Ohio State University), R. Pfeifle (NASA/GSFC), R. Pogge (Ohio State University), D. Suzuki (University of Notre Dame), S. Terry (NASA/GSFC), and A. Udalski (Warsaw University Observatory)