OGLE-2016-BLG-1190Lb

OGLE-2016-BLG-1190Lb is an extremely massive exoplanet, with a mass about 13.4 times that of Jupiter (M_J), or is, possibly, a low mass brown dwarf, orbiting the G-dwarf star OGLE-2016-BLG-1190L, located about 22,000 light years from Earth, in the constellation of Sagittarius, in the galactic bulge of the Milky Way.^[1][3][4]

OGLE-2016-BLG-1190Lb

Discovery
Discovered by	Ryu, Y.-H. et al[1]
Discovery site	Spitzer Space Telescope[1]
Discovery date	2017[1]
Detection method	Gravitational microlensing[1]
Orbital characteristics
Semi-major axis	2.17 AU (325,000,000 km)[2]
Eccentricity	0.42[2]
Orbital period (sidereal)	1223.6 [2] d
Inclination	41.2[2]
Star	OGLE-2016-BLG-1190L[1]
Physical characteristics
Mass	13.38[1][2] MJ

“Since the existence of the brown dwarf desert is the signature of different formation mechanisms for stars and planets, the extremely close proximity of OGLE-2016-BLG-1190Lb to this desert raises the question of whether it is truly a ‘planet’ (by formation mechanism) and therefore reacts back upon its role tracing the galactic distribution of planets," according to astronomers reporting the findings.^[1][5]

Discovery

The host star was discovered in June 2016 by the Optical Gravitational Lensing Experiment (OGLE) collaboration; the Spitzer Space Telescope observed the microlensing event a few days after its discovery. OGLE-2016-BLG-1190Lb is the first exoplanet discovered by microlensing with the Spitzer space telescope and the first exoplanet discovered lying near the planet/brown dwarf boundary.^[1][3] In addition, the discovery "is likely to be the first Spitzer microlensing planet in the Galactic bulge/bar," according to the initial reported study.^[1]

See also

• OGLE-2005-BLG-169Lb
• OGLE-2005-BLG-390Lb
• OGLE-2016-BLG-1195Lb
• Optical Gravitational Lensing Experiment (OGLE)