Microlensing suggests that our galaxy has more planets than stars, buBertram M. Schwarzschild
March 2012, http://dx.doi.org/10.1063/PT.3.1463, Physics Today
Gravitational bending of light reveals exoplanets with large orbital radii.
"Most of the more than 600 exoplanets discovered to date have been found through Doppler evidence of periodic host-star motion or photometric evidence of transits across a star’s face. Both methods are strongly biased in favor of planets with orbital radii much smaller than Earth’s, which defines 1 astronomical unit (AU). Gravitational microlensing is an alternative technique that’s most sensitive to planets a few AU from their stars. It favors very distant stars and it’s relatively unbiased as to stellar mass. Though microlensing’s discovery rate is still modest, it appeals to those who seek a representative galactic survey of planets with orbits like those of the solar system." http://www.physicstoday.org/resource/1/phtoad/v65/i3/p19_s1
