Type of Star:

Remarks:

Discovered by Gravitational Lensing (Microlensing)

Principle of microlensing: From a distant star only a tiny fraction of light reaches a telescope (A). If an invisible star moves directly through the line of sight, its gravity will focus the light, the background star will appear brighter for some time (B). A second, short spike in brightness may indicate a planet orbiting the invisible foreground star (to the right).

Maybe an Earth-like world has revealed its presence in MACHO-98-BLG-35.

Many stars are far too distant to see them ever directly, but sometimes they are revealed by a trick called microlensing. Light from a visible background star is focused by the gravity of an invisible foreground star, making the background star appear brighter. Scale and duration of this increase in brightness give us information about the foreground star's mass. This technique is used to search for MACHOs (Massive Compact Halo Objects) - very dim stars and rogue planets.

One of these microlensing events was MACHO-98-BLG-35. But after the invisible foreground star has left its trace in the detectors, a second, much smaller peak of brightness occured. This second signal may indicate the presence of an Earth-sized planet orbiting the foreground star.

Hypothetical scene of the planet in MACHO-98-BLG-35

Some astronomers think this may be something like a twin planet to Earth. But we will never see it directly, since it is some 15.000 lightyears away, in the direction towards the galactic center. But even if this planet should turn out to be a false reading instead, there are uncounted other Earth-like planets within the galaxy, and someday we will find them.