OGLE-2012-BLG-0724LB: A SATURN-MASS PLANET AROUND AN M DWARF

We report the discovery of a planet by the microlensing method, OGLE-2012-BLG-0724Lb. Although the duration of the planetary signal for this event was one of the shortest seen for a planetary event, the anomaly was well covered thanks to high-cadence observations taken by the survey groups OGLE and MOA. By analyzing the light curve, this planetary system is found to have a mass ratio q = ( 1.58 ± 0.15 ) × 10 − 3 . By conducting a Bayesian analysis, we estimate that the host star is an M dwarf with a mass of M L = 0.29 − 0.16 + 0.33 M ☉ located at D L = 6.7 − 1.2 + 1.1 kpc away from the Earth and the companion’s mass is m P = 0.47 − 0.26 + 0.54 M Jup . The projected planet–host separation is a ⊥ = 1.6 − 0.3 + 0.4 AU . Because the lens–source relative proper motion is relatively high, future high-resolution images would detect the lens host star and determine the lens properties uniquely. This system is likely a Saturn-mass exoplanet around an M dwarf, and such systems are commonly detected by gravitational microlensing. This adds another example of a possible pileup of sub-Jupiters ( 0.2 < m P / M Jup < 1 ) in contrast to a lack of Jupiters ( ∼ 1 – 2 M Jup ) around M dwarfs, supporting the prediction by core accretion models that Jupiter-mass or more massive planets are unlikely to form around M dwarfs.