A Jovian Analog Orbiting a White Dwarf Star

Joshua Blackman  ✧  University of Tasmania, Australia

I will discuss our recent published result regarding the non-detection of a main-sequence lens host in the microlensing event MOA-2010-BLG-477. Using constraints from re-modelling of the microlensing light curve together with high-resolution adaptive optics follow-up photometry from Keck, we show that the lens like most likely a white dwarf. There are only a handful of major planets and planet candidates detected around white dwarfs and this is the only one that resembles the expected fate of our solar system. The system contains a \(\sim0.5\) solar mass white dwarf orbited by a 1.4 Jupiter mass planet which likely formed at the same time as its progenitor star and survived the intermediate phases of the star's evolution.