Extending the Planetary Mass Function to Earth Mass by Microlensing at Moderately High Magnification

A measurement by microlensing of the planetary mass function of planets with masses ranging from 5 M⊕ to 10 MJ and orbital radii from 0.5 to 10 au was reported recently. A strategy for extending the mass range down to (1–3) M⊕ is proposed here. This entails monitoring the peaks of a few tens of microlensing events with moderately high magnifications with 1–2 m class telescopes. Planets of a few Ea...