Optical Gravitational Lensing Experiment

OGLE is an acronym for Optical Gravitational Lensing Experiment - a scientific research project in observational astronomy, carried out by the astronomers of the Observatory of the University of Warsaw, Poland, under the direction of Professor Andrzej Udalski.

The main task of OGLE is the search and observation of occurring microlensing effects. This, among other objects of the galactic halos can be detected in the context of the search for dark matter (see also MACHO ) that are too dark for a direct observation. In the recent past OGLE is used above all in the search for extrasolar planets. How could a planet in January 2006 in cooperation with the projects PLANET and MOA ( Microlensing Observations in Astrophysics ) can be detected with a mass of only 5.5 Earth masses (see)

In the first phase (1992-1995) was for the OGLE - 1 m Henrietta Swope telescope at the Las Campanas Observatory in Chile - available. After completion of this phase, the 1.3 m Warsaw telescope was installed in Las Campanas specifically for OGLE, and put into operation in 1997. The third phase, which began in 2001, distinguishes itself in particular through new instruments, such as improved CCD camera, as well as by the improved microlensing Early Warning System (EWS ) from the help of the other observatories on a just started microlensing event can be pointed and thus able to confirm and improve the monitoring.