Microlensing Observations in Astrophysics
Microlensing Observations in Astrophysics (MOA) is a Japanese-New Zealand cooperation for the observation of dark matter , extrasolar planets and stellar atmospheres using the microlensing effect. The Mt John University Observatory in New Zealand is used for this. The observations are carried out with a reflecting telescope with a diameter of 1.8 m.
The discovery of what was then the smallest super-earth MOA-2007-BLG-192Lb with a mass of just 3.3 Earth masses was a success in 2008 . In January 2006, another planet with a mass of only 5.5 earth masses was discovered in cooperation with the OGLE and PLANET projects .