Lens Flux Research Articles

OGLE-2019-BLG-1180Lb: Discovery of a Wide-orbit Jupiter-mass Planet around a Late-type Star

We report on the discovery and analysis of the planetary microlensing event OGLE-2019-BLG-1180 with a planet-to-star mass ratio q ∼ 0.003. The event OGLE-2019-BLG-1180 has unambiguous cusp-passing and caustic-crossing anomalies, which were caused by a wide planetary caustic with s ≃ 2, where s is the star–planet separation in units of the angular Einstein radius θ E. Thanks to well-covered anomalies by the Korea Micorolensing Telescope Network (KMTNet), we measure both the angular Einstein radius and the microlens parallax in spite of a relatively short event timescale of t E = 28 days. However, because of a weak constraint on the parallax, we conduct a Bayesian analysis to estimate the physical lens parameters. We find that the lens system is a super-Jupiter-mass planet of orbiting a late-type star of at a distance . The projected star–planet separation is , which means that the planet orbits at about four times the snow line of the host star. Considering the relative lens–source proper motion of μ rel = 6 mas yr−1, the lens will be separated from the source by 60 mas in 2029. At that time one can measure the lens flux from adaptive optics imaging of Keck or a next-generation 30 m class telescope. OGLE-2019-BLG-1180Lb represents a growing population of wide-orbit planets detected by KMTNet, so we also present a general investigation into prospects for further expanding the sample of such planets.

An Isolated Mass-gap Black Hole or Neutron Star Detected with Astrometric Microlensing

We present the analysis of five black hole candidates identified from gravitational microlensing surveys. Hubble Space Telescope astrometric data and densely sampled light curves from ground-based microlensing surveys are fit with a single-source, single-lens microlensing model in order to measure the mass and luminosity of each lens and determine if it is a black hole. One of the five targets (OGLE-2011-BLG-0462/MOA-2011-BLG-191 or OB110462 for short) shows a significant >1 mas coherent astrometric shift, little to no lens flux, and has an inferred lens mass of 1.6–4.4 M ⊙. This makes OB110462 the first definitive discovery of a compact object through astrometric microlensing and it is most likely either a neutron star or a low-mass black hole. This compact-object lens is relatively nearby (0.70–1.92 kpc) and has a slow transverse motion of <30 km s−1. OB110462 shows significant tension between models well fit to photometry versus astrometry, making it currently difficult to distinguish between a neutron star and a black hole. Additional observations and modeling with more complex system geometries, such as binary sources, are needed to resolve the puzzling nature of this object. For the remaining four candidates, the lens masses are <2M ⊙, and they are unlikely to be black holes; two of the four are likely white dwarfs or neutron stars. We compare the full sample of five candidates to theoretical expectations on the number of black holes in the Milky Way (∼108) and find reasonable agreement given the small sample size.

Finding Lensed Direct-collapse Black Holes and Supermassive Primordial Stars

Direct-collapse black holes (DCBHs) may be the seeds of the first quasars, over 200 of which have now been detected at z > 6. The James Webb Space Telescope (JWST) could detect DCBHs in the near-infrared (NIR) at z ≲ 20 and probe the evolution of primordial quasars at their earliest stages, but only in narrow fields that may not capture many of them. Wide-field NIR surveys by Euclid and the Nancy Grace Roman Space Telescope (RST) would enclose far greater numbers of DCBHs but only directly detect them at z ≲ 6–8 because of their lower sensitivities. However, their large survey areas will cover thousands of galaxy clusters and massive galaxies that could gravitationally lens flux from DCBHs, boosting them above current Euclid and RST detection limits and revealing more of them than could otherwise be detected. Here, we estimate the minimum number density of strongly lensed DCBHs and supermassive primordial stars required for detection in surveys by Euclid, RST, and JWST at z ≲ 20. We find that for reasonable estimates of host halo numbers RST, Euclid, and JWST could potentially find hundreds of strongly lensed DCBHs at z = 7–20. RST would detect the most objects at z ≲ 10 and JWST would find the most at higher redshifts. Lensed supermassive primordial stars could potentially also be found, but in fewer numbers because of their short lifetimes.

MagAO Observations of the Binary Microlens OGLE-2014-BLG-1050 Prefer the Higher-mass Solution*

Abstract We report adaptive optics (AO) follow-up imaging of OGLE-2014-BLG-1050, which is the second binary microlensing event with space-based parallax measurements. The degeneracy in microlens parallax π E led to two sets of solutions, either a ∼ (0.9, 0.35)M ⊙ binary at ∼3.5 kpc or a ∼(0.2, 0.07)M ⊙ binary at ∼1.1 kpc. We measure the flux blended with the microlensed source by conducting Magellan AO observations, and find that the blending is consistent with the predicted lens flux from the higher-mass solution. From the combination of the AO flux measurement together with previous lensing constraints, it is estimated that the lens system consists of a primary and a secondary at kpc.

OGLE-2007-BLG-224L: A Direct Test of Terrestrial Parallax

Abstract We present limits on the lens flux of OGLE-2007-BLG-224 based on MagAO imaging taken seven years after the microlensing event. At the time of the observations, the lens should have been separated from the microlensing source by 292 mas. However, no new sources are detected with MagAO. We place an upper limit on the lens flux of H &gt; 20.57. This measurement supports the conclusion of Gould et al. that the lens in this event should be a brown dwarf. This is the first test of a prediction based on the terrestrial microlens parallax effect and the first AO confirmation of a substellar/dark microlens.

Revisiting MOA 2013-BLG-220L: A Solar-type Star with a Cold Super-Jupiter Companion

Abstract We present the analysis of high-resolution images of MOA-2013-BLG-220, taken with the Keck adaptive optics system six years after the initial observation, identifying the lens as a solar-type star hosting a super-Jupiter-mass planet. The masses of planets and host stars discovered by microlensing are often not determined from light-curve data, while the star–planet mass ratio and projected separation in units of Einstein ring radius are well measured. High-resolution follow-up observations after the lensing event is complete can resolve the source and lens. This allows direct measurements of flux, and the amplitude and direction of proper motion, giving strong constraints on the system parameters. Due to the high relative proper motion, mas yr−1, the source and lens were resolved in 2019, with a separation of 77.1 ± 0.5 mas. Thus, we constrain the lens flux to . By combining constraints from the model and Keck flux, we find the lens mass to be at . With a mass ratio of the planet’s mass is determined to be at a separation of . The lens mass is much higher than the prediction made by Bayesian analysis that assumes all stars have an equal probability to host a planet of the measured mass ratio, and suggests that planets with mass ratios of a few times 10−3 are more common orbiting massive stars. This demonstrates the importance of high-resolution follow-up observations for testing theories like these.

OGLE-2015-BLG-1649Lb: A Gas Giant Planet around a Low-mass Dwarf

Abstract We report the discovery of an exoplanet from the analysis of the gravitational microlensing event OGLE-2015-BLG-1649 that challenges the core accretion model of planet formation and appears to support the disk instability model. The planet/host-star mass ratio is q = 7.2 × 10−3 and the projected separation normalized to the angular Einstein radius is s = 0.9. We conducted high-resolution follow-up observations using the Infrared Camera and Spectrograph (IRCS) camera on the Subaru telescope and are able to place an upper limit on the lens flux. From these measurements we are able to exclude all host stars greater than or equal in mass to a G-type dwarf. We conducted a Bayesian analysis with these new flux constraints included as priors resulting in estimates of the masses of the host star and planet. These are M L = 0.34 ± 0.19 M ⊙ and , respectively. The distance to the system is . The projected star–planet separation is . The estimated relative lens-source proper motion, ∼7.1 mas yr−1, is fairly high and thus the lens can be better constrained if additional follow-up observations are conducted several years after the event.

Kojima-1Lb Is a Mildly Cold Neptune around the Brightest Microlensing Host Star

Abstract We report the analysis of additional multiband photometry and spectroscopy and new adaptive optics (AO) imaging of the nearby planetary microlensing event TCP J05074264+2447555 (Kojima-1), which was discovered toward the Galactic anticenter in 2017 (Nucita et al.). We confirm the planetary nature of the light-curve anomaly around the peak while finding no additional planetary feature in this event. We also confirm the presence of apparent blending flux and the absence of significant parallax signal reported in the literature. The AO image reveals no contaminating sources, making it most likely that the blending flux comes from the lens star. The measured multiband lens flux, combined with a constraint from the microlensing model, allows us to narrow down the previously unresolved mass and distance of the lens system. We find that the primary lens is a dwarf on the K/M boundary (0.581 ± 0.033 M ⊙) located at 505 ± 47 pc, and the companion (Kojima-1Lb) is a Neptune-mass planet (20.0 ± 2.0 M ⊕) with a semimajor axis of au. This orbit is a few times smaller than those of typical microlensing planets and is comparable to the snow-line location at young ages. We calculate that the a priori detection probability of Kojima-1Lb is only ∼35%, which may imply that Neptunes are common around the snow line, as recently suggested by the transit and radial velocity techniques. The host star is the brightest among the microlensing planetary systems (K s = 13.7), offering a great opportunity to spectroscopically characterize this system, even with current facilities.

Analysis of luminosity distributions of strong lensing galaxies: subtraction of diffuse lensed signal

Strong gravitational lensing gives access to the total mass distribution of galaxies. It can unveil a great deal of information about the lenses dark matter content when combined with the study of the lenses light profile. However, gravitational lensing galaxies, by definition, appear surrounded by point-like and diffuse lensed signal that is irrelevant to the lens flux. Therefore, the observer is most often restricted to studying the innermost portions of the galaxy, where classical fitting methods show some instabilities. We aim at subtracting that lensed signal and at characterising some lenses light profile by computing their shape parameters. Our objective is to evaluate the total integrated flux in an aperture the size of the Einstein ring in order to obtain a robust estimate of the quantity of ordinary matter in each system. We are expanding the work we started in a previous paper that consisted in subtracting point-like lensed images and in independently measuring each shape parameter. We improve it by designing a subtraction of the diffuse lensed signal, based only on one simple hypothesis of symmetry. This extra step improves our study of the shape parameters and we refine it even more by upgrading our half-light radius measurement. We also calculate the impact of our specific image processing on the error bars. The diffuse lensed signal subtraction makes it possible to study a larger portion of relevant galactic flux, as the radius of the fitting region increases by on average 17\%. We retrieve new half-light radii values that are on average 11\% smaller than in our previous work, although the uncertainties overlap in most cases. This shows that not taking the diffuse lensed signal into account may lead to a significant overestimate of the half-light radius. We are also able to measure the flux within the Einstein radius and to compute secure error bars to all of our results.

OGLE-2012-BLG-0950Lb: THE FIRST PLANET MASS MEASUREMENT FROM ONLY MICROLENS PARALLAX AND LENS FLUX

ABSTRACT We report the discovery of a microlensing planet OGLE-2012-BLG-0950Lb with a planet/host mass ratio of . A long term distortion detected in both MOA and OGLE light curve can be explained by the microlens parallax due to the Earth’s orbital motion around the Sun. Although the finite source effect is not detected, we obtain the lens flux by the high resolution Keck AO observation. Combining the microlens parallax and the lens flux reveal the nature of the lens: a planet with mass of is orbiting around an M-dwarf with mass of with a planet-host projected separation of au located at kpc from us. This is the first mass measurement from only microlens parallax and the lens flux without the finite source effect. In the coming space observation-era with Spitzer, K2, Euclid, and WFIRST, we expect many such events for which we will not be able to measure any finite source effect. This work demonstrates an ability of mass measurements in such events.

ON THE FEASIBILITY OF CHARACTERIZING FREE-FLOATING PLANETS WITH CURRENT AND FUTURE SPACE-BASED MICROLENSING SURVEYS

ABSTRACT Simultaneous space- and ground-based microlensing surveys, such as K2's Campaign 9 (K2C9) and WFIRST, facilitate measuring the masses and distances of free-floating planet (FFP) candidates, which are identified as single-lens events with timescales that are of the order of 1 day. Measuring the mass and distance of an FFP lens requires determining the size of the source star ρ, measuring the microlens parallax , and using high-resolution imaging to search for the lens flux from a possible host star. Here we investigate the accessible parameter space for each of these components considering different satellites for a range of FFP masses, Galactic distances, and source star properties. We find that at the beginning of K2C9, when its projected separation from the Earth is ≲0.2 au, it will be able to measure for Jupiter-mass FFP candidates at distances larger than ∼2 kpc and to Earth-mass lenses at ∼8 kpc. At the end of K2C9, when = 0.81 au, it is sensitive to planetary-mass lenses for distances ≳3.5 kpc, and even then only to those with mass ≳M Jup. From lens flux constraints we find that it will be possible to exclude hosts down to the deuterium-burning limit for events within ∼2 kpc. This indicates that the ability to characterize FFPs detected during K2C9 is optimized for events occurring toward the beginning of the campaign. WFIRST, on the other hand, will be able to detect and characterize FFP masses down to or below super-Earths throughout the Galaxy during its entire microlensing survey.

REVISITING THE MICROLENSING EVENT OGLE 2012-BLG-0026: A SOLAR MASS STAR WITH TWO COLD GIANT PLANETS

ABSTRACT Two cold gas giant planets orbiting a G-type main-sequence star in the galactic disk were previously discovered in the high-magnification microlensing event OGLE-2012-BLG-0026. Here, we present revised host star flux measurements and a refined model for the two-planet system using additional light curve data. We performed high angular resolution adaptive optics imaging with the Keck and Subaru telescopes at two epochs while the source star was still amplified. We detected the lens flux, H = 16.39 ± 0.08. The lens, a disk star, is brighter than predicted from the modeling in the original study. We revisited the light curve modeling using additional photometric data from the B&amp;C telescope in New Zealand and CTIO 1.3 m H-band light curve. We then include the Keck and Subaru adaptive optic observation constraints. The system is composed of a ∼4–9 Gyr lens star of M lens = 1.06 ± 0.05 M ⊙ at a distance of D lens = 4.0 ± 0.3 kpc, orbited by two giant planets of 0.145 ± 0.008 M Jup and 0.86 ± 0.06 M Jup, with projected separations of 4.0 ± 0.5 au and 4.8 ± 0.7 au, respectively. Because the lens is brighter than the source star by 16 ± 8% in H, with no other blend within one arcsec, it will be possible to estimate its metallicity using subsequent IR spectroscopy with 8–10 m class telescopes. By adding a constraint on the metallicity it will be possible to refine the age of the system.

LENS MASSES AND DISTANCES FROM MICROLENS PARALLAX AND FLUX

I present a novel method for measuring lens masses for microlensing events. By combining a measured lens flux with the microlens parallax it is possible to derive the mass of the lens system without knowing the angular size of the Einstein ring, This enables mass and distance measurements for single, luminous lenses, as well as binary and planetary lenses without caustic crossings. I discuss applications of this method in the contexts of the Spitzer, Kepler, and WFIRST microlensing missions.

SPITZERIMAGING OF STRONGLY LENSEDHERSCHEL-SELECTED DUSTY STAR-FORMING GALAXIES

We present the rest-frame optical spectral energy distribution and stellar masses of six Herschel- selected gravitationally lensed dusty, star-forming galaxies (DSFGs) at 1 < z < 3. These galaxies were first identified with Herschel/SPIRE imaging data from the Herschel Astrophysical Terahertz Large Area Survey (H-ATLAS) and the Herschel Multi-tiered Extragalactic Survey (HerMES). The targets were observed with Spitzer/IRAC at 3.6 and 4.5um. Due to the spatial resolution of the IRAC observations at the level of 2 arcseconds, the lensing features of a background DSFG in the near-infrared are blended with the flux from the foreground lensing galaxy in the IRAC imaging data. We make use of higher resolution Hubble/WFC3 or Keck/NIRC2 Adaptive Optics imaging data to fit light profiles of the foreground lensing galaxy (or galaxies) as a way to model the foreground components, in order to successfully disentangle the foreground lens and background source flux densities in the IRAC images. The flux density measurements at 3.6 and 4.5um, once combined with Hubble/WFC3 and Keck/NIRC2 data, provide important constraints on the rest-frame optical spectral energy distribution of the Herschel-selected lensed DSFGs. We model the combined UV- to millimeter-wavelength SEDs to establish the stellar mass, dust mass, star-formation rate, visual extinction, and other parameters for each of these Herschel-selected DSFGs. These systems have inferred stellar masses in the range 8 x 10^10 to 4 x 10^11 Msun and star-formation rates of around 100 Msun yr-1. This puts these lensed sub-millimeter systems well above the SFR-M* relation observed for normal star-forming galaxies at similar redshifts. The high values of SFR inferred for these systems are consistent with a major merger-driven scenario for star formation.

PROSPECTS FOR CHARACTERIZING HOST STARS OF THE PLANETARY SYSTEM DETECTIONS PREDICTED FOR THE KOREAN MICROLENSING TELESCOPE NETWORK

I investigate the possibility of constraining the flux of the lens (i.e., host star) for the types of planetary systems the Korean Microlensing Telescope Network is predicted to find. I examine the potential to obtain lens flux measurements by 1) imaging a lens once it is spatially resolved from the source, 2) measuring the elongation of the point spread function of the microlensing target (lens+source) when the lens and source are still unresolved, and 3) taking prompt follow-up photometry. In each case I simulate observing programs for a representative example of current ground-based adaptive optics (AO) facilities (specifically NACO on VLT), future ground-based AO facilities (GMTIFS on GMT), and future space telescopes (NIRCAM on $JWST$). Given the predicted distribution of relative lens-source proper motions, I find that the lens flux could be measured to a precision of $\sigma_{H_{\ell}} \leq 0.1$ for $\gtrsim$60$\%$ of planet detections $\geq$5 years after each microlensing event, for a simulated observing program using GMT that images resolved lenses. NIRCAM on $JWST$ would be able to carry out equivalently high-precision measurements for $\sim$28$\%$ of events $\Delta t$ = 10 years after each event by imaging resolved lenses. I also explore the effects various blend components would have on the mass derived from prompt follow-up photometry, including companions to the lens, companions to the source, and unassociated interloping stars. I find that undetected blend stars would cause catastrophic failures (i.e., $>$50$\%$ fractional uncertainty in the inferred lens mass) for $\lesssim$(16$\cdot f_{\rm bin})\%$ of planet detections, where $f_{\rm bin}$ is the binary fraction, with the majority of these failures occurring for host stars with mass $\lesssim$0.3$M_{\odot}$.

CANDIDATE GRAVITATIONAL MICROLENSING EVENTS FOR FUTURE DIRECT LENS IMAGING

The mass of the lenses giving rise to Galactic microlensing events can be constrained by measuring the relative lens-source proper motion and lens flux. The flux of the lens can be separated from that of the source, companions to the source, and unrelated nearby stars with high-resolution images taken when the lens and source are spatially resolved. For typical ground-based adaptive optics (AO) or space-based observations, this requires either inordinately long time baselines or high relative proper motions. We provide a list of microlensing events toward the Galactic Bulge with high relative lens-source proper motion that are therefore good candidates for constraining the lens mass with future high-resolution imaging. We investigate all events from 2004 -- 2013 that display detectable finite-source effects, a feature that allows us to measure the proper motion. In total, we present 20 events with mu >~ 8 mas/yr. Of these, 14 were culled from previous analyses while 6 are new, including OGLE-2004-BLG-368, MOA-2005-BLG-36, OGLE-2012-BLG-0211, OGLE-2012-BLG-0456, MOA-2012-BLG-532, and MOA-2013-BLG-029. In <~12 years the lens and source of each event will be sufficiently separated for ground-based telescopes with AO systems or space telescopes to resolve each component and further characterize the lens system. Furthermore, for the most recent events, comparison of the lens flux estimates from images taken immediately to those estimated from images taken when the lens and source are resolved can be used to empirically check the robustness of the single-epoch method currently being used to estimate lens masses for many events.

MOA-2011-BLG-293Lb: A TEST OF PURE SURVEY MICROLENSING PLANET DETECTIONS

Because of the development of large-format, wide-field cameras, microlensing surveys are now able to monitor millions of stars with sufficient cadence to detect planets. These new discoveries will span the full range of significance levels including planetary signals too small to be distinguished from the noise. At present, we do not understand where the threshold is for detecting planets. MOA-2011-BLG-293Lb is the first planet to be published from the new surveys, and it also has substantial followup observations. This planet is robustly detected in survey+followup data (Delta chi^2 ~ 5400). The planet/host mass ratio is q=5.3+/- 0.2*10^{-3}. The best fit projected separation is s=0.548+/- 0.005 Einstein radii. However, due to the s-->s^{-1} degeneracy, projected separations of s^{-1} are only marginally disfavored at Delta chi^2=3. A Bayesian estimate of the host mass gives M_L = 0.43^{+0.27}_{-0.17} M_Sun, with a sharp upper limit of M_L < 1.2 M_Sun from upper limits on the lens flux. Hence, the planet mass is m_p=2.4^{+1.5}_{-0.9} M_Jup, and the physical projected separation is either r_perp = ~1.0 AU or r_perp = ~3.4 AU. We show that survey data alone predict this solution and are able to characterize the planet, but the Delta chi^2 is much smaller (Delta chi^2~500) than with the followup data. The Delta chi^2 for the survey data alone is smaller than for any other securely detected planet. This event suggests a means to probe the detection threshold, by analyzing a large sample of events like MOA-2011-BLG-293, which have both followup data and high cadence survey data, to provide a guide for the interpretation of pure survey microlensing data.

MOA 2010-BLG-477Lb: CONSTRAINING THE MASS OF A MICROLENSING PLANET FROM MICROLENSING PARALLAX, ORBITAL MOTION, AND DETECTION OF BLENDED LIGHT

Microlensing detections of cool planets are important for the construction of an unbiased sample to estimate the frequency of planets beyond the snow line, which is where giant planets are thought to form according to the core accretion theory of planet formation. In this paper, we report the discovery of a giant planet detected from the analysis of the light curve of a high-magnification microlensing event MOA-2010-BLG-477. The measured planet-star mass ratio is $q=(2.181\pm0.004)\times 10^{-3}$ and the projected separation is $s=1.1228\pm0.0006$ in units of the Einstein radius. The angular Einstein radius is unusually large $\theta_{\rm E}=1.38\pm 0.11$ mas. Combining this measurement with constraints on the "microlens parallax" and the lens flux, we can only limit the host mass to the range $0.13<M/M_\odot<1.0$. In this particular case, the strong degeneracy between microlensing parallax and planet orbital motion prevents us from measuring more accurate host and planet masses. However, we find that adding Bayesian priors from two effects (Galactic model and Keplerian orbit) each independently favors the upper end of this mass range, yielding star and planet masses of $M_*=0.67^{+0.33}_{-0.13}\ M_\odot$ and $m_p=1.5^{+0.8}_{-0.3}\ M_{\rm JUP}$ at a distance of $D=2.3\pm0.6$ kpc, and with a semi-major axis of $a=2^{+3}_{-1}$ AU. Finally, we show that the lens mass can be determined from future high-resolution near-IR adaptive optics observations independently from two effects, photometric and astrometric.

A NEW CHANNEL FOR DETECTING DARK MATTER SUBSTRUCTURE IN GALAXIES: GRAVITATIONAL LENS TIME DELAYS

We show that dark matter substructure in galaxy-scale halos perturbs the time delays between images in strong gravitational lens systems. The variance of the effect depends on the subhalo mass function, scaling as the product of the substructure mass fraction and a characteristic mass of subhalos (namely <m^2>/<m>). Time delay perturbations therefore complement gravitational lens flux ratio anomalies and astrometric perturbations by measuring a different moment of the subhalo mass function. Unlike flux ratio anomalies, "time delay millilensing" is unaffected by dust extinction or stellar microlensing in the lens galaxy. Furthermore, we show that time delay ratios are immune to the radial profile degeneracy that usually plagues lens modeling. We lay out a mathematical theory of time delay perturbations and find it to be tractable and attractive. We predict that in "cusp" lenses with close triplets of images, substructure may change the arrival-time order of the images (compared with smooth models). We discuss the possibility that this effect has already been observed in RX J1131-1231.

Oxygen Flux through a Soft Contact Lens on the Eye

The only practical means of making a clinical measurement of oxygen flux into a cornea under a contact lens is by pressing a Clark-type oxygen sensor to the anterior surface of the lens. The earlier limitation to lenses of low water content has been removed and a general method suitable for soft lenses of all transmissibility is presented here. The procedure allows an estimate of oxygen tension under the lens and oxygen flux into the cornea. The method requires a minimum amount of calculation and does not require a prior calibration on the contact lens wearer, but instead gives a direct, absolute measurement of oxygen tension and flux.