KMTNet

{{Short description|South Korean optical telescope network}} {{Infobox telescope | name = ''Korea Microlensing Telescope Network'' | organization = Korea Astronomy and Space Science Institute | built = 2015 | diameter = {{convert|1.6|m|abbr=on}} | focal_length = {{convert|5.16|m|abbr=on}} | wavelength = Optical/Infrared | angular_resolution = 0.37 arcsec | website = https://kmtnet.kasi.re.kr/~ulens/ }}

The '''Korea Microlensing Telescope Network''' ('''KMTNet'''; {{Korean|hangul=외계행성 탐색시스템}}) is an ongoing wide-field photometric system that aims to discover extrasolar planets using gravitational microlensing.<ref name=":0">{{Cite web |title=KMTNet |url=https://kmtnet.kasi.re.kr/~ulens/ |access-date=2025-04-29 |website=kmtnet.kasi.re.kr}}</ref><ref>{{Cite journal |last1=Henderson |first1=Calen B. |last2=Gaudi |first2=B. Scott |last3=Han |first3=Cheongho |last4=Nataf |first4=David |last5=Skowron |first5=Jan |last6=Penny |first6=Matthew |last7=Gould |first7=Andrew |date=2015 |title=KMTNet: A Cold Exoplanet Census Through a Global Microlensing Survey |url=https://ui.adsabs.harvard.edu/abs/2015AAS...22520203H/abstract |journal=American Astronomical Society Meeting Abstracts #225 |language=en |volume=225 |pages=202.03|bibcode=2015AAS...22520203H }}</ref><ref>{{Cite web |title=Korea Microlensing Telescope Network (KMTNet) |url=https://m3eng.com/portfolio/korea-microlensing-telescope-network-kmtnet/ |access-date=2025-04-29 |website=M3 Engineering & Technology |language=en-US}}</ref> The system leverages three identical 1.6 m wide-field optical telescopes located at the Cerro-Tololo Inter-American Observatory (CTIO) in Chile,<ref>{{Cite web |last=info@noirlab.edu |title=KMTNet 1.6-meter Telescope |url=https://noirlab.edu/public/programs/ctio/kmtnet-16m-telescope/ |access-date=2025-04-29 |website=noirlab.edu |language=en}}</ref> the South African Astronomical Observatory (SAAO) in South Africa,<ref>{{Cite web |title=KMTnet Site Live View - Sutherland, South Africa |url=https://kmtnet.saao.ac.za |access-date=2025-04-29 |website=kmtnet.saao.ac.za}}</ref> and the Siding Spring Observatory (SSO) in Australia.<ref>{{Cite web |title=KMTNet |url=https://rsaa.anu.edu.au/observatories/telescopes/kmtnet |access-date=2025-04-29 |website=Research School of Astronomy & Astrophysics |language=en}}</ref> All three telescopes share a latitude of −30 degrees enabling continuous monitoring of the galactic bulge during 8 months of each year and other targets in the south hemisphere during non-bulge season such as near-earth asteroids and supernovae.<ref>{{Cite journal |last1=Park |first1=Hong Soo |last2=Moon |first2=Dae-Sik |last3=Zaritsky |first3=Dennis |last4=Kim |first4=Sang Chul |last5=Lee |first5=Youngdae |last6=Cha |first6=Sang-Mok |last7=Lee |first7=Yongseok |date=2019 |title=Dwarf Galaxy Discoveries from the KMTNet Supernova Program. II. The NGC 3585 Group and Its Dynamical State |journal=The Astrophysical Journal |language=en |volume=885 |issue=1 |pages=88 |doi=10.3847/1538-4357/ab4794 |doi-access=free |arxiv=1909.11260 |bibcode=2019ApJ...885...88P |issn=0004-637X}}</ref><ref>{{Cite journal |last1=Erasmus |first1=N. |last2=Mommert |first2=M. |last3=Trilling |first3=D. E. |last4=Sickafoose |first4=A. A. |last5=van Gend |first5=C. |last6=Hora |first6=J. L. |date=2017 |title=Characterization of Near-Earth Asteroids Using KMTNET-SAAO |journal=The Astronomical Journal |language=en |volume=154 |issue=4 |pages=162 |doi=10.3847/1538-3881/aa88be |doi-access=free |arxiv=1709.03305 |bibcode=2017AJ....154..162E |issn=1538-3881}}</ref><ref>{{Cite journal |last1=Kim |first1=Seung-Lee |last2=Lee |first2=Chung-Uk |last3=Park |first3=Byeong-Gon |last4=Kim |first4=Dong-Jin |last5=Cha |first5=Sang-Mok |last6=Lee |first6=Yongseok |last7=Han |first7=Cheongho |last8=Chun |first8=Moo-Young |last9=Yuk |first9=Insoo |date=2016-02-29 |title=Kmtnet: A Network of 1.6 M Wide-Field Optical Telescopes Installed at Three Southern Observatories |url=http://koreascience.or.kr/journal/view.jsp?kj=CMHHBA&py=2016&vnc=v49n1&sp=37 |journal=Journal of the Korean Astronomical Society |language=en |volume=49 |issue=1 |pages=37–44 |doi=10.5303/JKAS.2016.49.1.37 |bibcode=2016JKAS...49...37K |issn=1225-4614|doi-access=free }}</ref> Currently, 232 microlensing planets have been described by KMTNet.<ref name=":0" /> The KMNet survey was recently used to show that super-earths are common in Jupiter-like orbits.<ref>{{Cite web |title=Astronomers find Earth-like exoplanets common across the cosmos |url=https://news.osu.edu/astronomers-find-earth-like-exoplanets-common-across-the-cosmos/ |access-date=2025-04-29 |website=Astronomers find Earth-like exoplanets common across the cosmos |language=en-us}}</ref><ref>{{Cite journal |last1=Zang |first1=Weicheng |last2=Jung |first2=Youn Kil |last3=Yee |first3=Jennifer C. |last4=Hwang |first4=Kyu-Ha |last5=Yang |first5=Hongjing |last6=Udalski |first6=Andrzej |last7=Sumi |first7=Takahiro |last8=Gould |first8=Andrew |last9=Mao |first9=Shude |last10=Albrow |first10=Michael D. |last11=Chung |first11=Sun-Ju |last12=Han |first12=Cheongho |last13=Ryu |first13=Yoon-Hyun |last14=Shin |first14=In-Gu |last15=Shvartzvald |first15=Yossi |date=2025-04-25 |title=Microlensing events indicate that super-Earth exoplanets are common in Jupiter-like orbits |url=https://www.science.org/doi/10.1126/science.adn6088 |journal=Science |volume=388 |issue=6745 |pages=400–404 |doi=10.1126/science.adn6088|pmid=40273242 |arxiv=2504.20158 |bibcode=2025Sci...388..400Z }}</ref>

== References ==

Category:Exoplanet search projects Category:Astronomical surveys Category:Optical telescopes Category:Space program of South Korea