ABSTRACT We report the results of the statistical analysis of planetary signals discovered in MOA-II microlensing survey alert system events from 2007 to 2012. We determine the survey sensitivity as ...a function of planet-star mass ratio, q, and projected planet-star separation, s, in Einstein radius units. We find that the mass-ratio function is not a single power law, but has a change in slope at q ∼ 10−4, corresponding to ∼20 M⊕ for the median host-star mass of ∼0.6 . We find significant planetary signals in 23 of the 1474 alert events that are well-characterized by the MOA-II survey data alone. Data from other groups are used only to characterize planetary signals that have been identified in the MOA data alone. The distribution of mass ratios and separations of the planets found in our sample are well fit by a broken power-law model of the form for q > qbr and for q < qbr, where qbr is the mass ratio of the break. We also combine this analysis with the previous analyses of Gould et al. and Cassan et al., bringing the total sample to 30 planets. This combined analysis yields , n = −0.93 0.13, , and for qbr 1.7 × 10−4. The unbroken power-law model is disfavored with a p-value of 0.0022, which corresponds to a Bayes factor of 27 favoring the broken power-law model. These results imply that cold Neptunes are likely to be the most common type of planets beyond the snow line.
We report the discovery of a gas-giant planet orbiting a low-mass host star in the microlensing event MOA-bin-29 that occurred in 2006. We find five degenerate solutions with the planet/host-star ...mass ratio of q ∼ 10−2. The Einstein radius crossing time of all models are relatively short (∼4-7 days), which indicates that the mass of host star is likely low. The measured lens-source proper motion is 5-9 mas yr−1 depending on the models. Since only finite source effects are detected, we conduct a Bayesian analysis in order to obtain the posterior probability distribution of the lens physical properties. As a result, we find the lens system is likely to be a gas-giant orbiting a brown dwarf or a very late M-dwarf in the Galactic bulge. The probability distributions of the physical parameters for the five degenerate models are consistent within the range of error. By combining these probability distributions, we conclude that the lens system is a gas giant with a mass of orbiting a brown dwarf with a mass of at a projected star-planet separation of . The lens distance is , i.e., likely within the Galactic bulge.
We present H- and K{sub s}-band imaging data resolving the gap in the transitional disk around LkCa 15, revealing the surrounding nebulosity. We detect sharp elliptical contours delimiting the ...nebulosity on the inside as well as the outside, consistent with the shape, size, ellipticity, and orientation of starlight reflected from the far-side disk wall, whereas the near-side wall is shielded from view by the disk's optically thick bulk. We note that forward scattering of starlight on the near-side disk surface could provide an alternate interpretation of the nebulosity. In either case, this discovery provides confirmation of the disk geometry that has been proposed to explain the spectral energy distributions of such systems, comprising an optically thick disk with an inner truncation radius of {approx}46 AU enclosing a largely evacuated gap. Our data show an offset of the nebulosity contours along the major axis, likely corresponding to a physical pericenter offset of the disk gap. This reinforces the leading theory that dynamical clearing by at least one orbiting body is the cause of the gap. Based on evolutionary models, our high-contrast imagery imposes an upper limit of 21 M{sub Jup} on companions at separations outside of 0.''1 and of 13 M{sub Jup} outside of 0.''2. Thus, we find that a planetary system around LkCa 15 is the most likely explanation for the disk architecture.
We report the discovery of a microlensing planet-MOA-2016-BLG-227Lb-with a large planet/host mass ratio of q 9 × 10−3. This event was located near the K2 Campaign 9 field that was observed by a large ...number of telescopes. As a result, the event was in the microlensing survey area of a number of these telescopes, and this enabled good coverage of the planetary light-curve signal. High angular resolution adaptive optics images from the Keck telescope reveal excess flux at the position of the source above the flux of the source star, as indicated by the light-curve model. This excess flux could be due to the lens star, but it could also be due to a companion to the source or lens star, or even an unrelated star. We consider all these possibilities in a Bayesian analysis in the context of a standard Galactic model. Our analysis indicates that it is unlikely that a large fraction of the excess flux comes from the lens, unless solar-type stars are much more likely to host planets of this mass ratio than lower mass stars. We recommend that a method similar to the one developed in this paper be used for other events with high angular resolution follow-up observations when the follow-up observations are insufficient to measure the lens-source relative proper motion.
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.
We report on the discovery and analysis of the short-timescale binary-lens microlensing event, MOA-2015-BLG-337. The lens system could be a planetary system with a very low-mass host, around the ...brown dwarf (BD)/planetary-mass boundary, or a BD binary. We found two competing models that explain the observed light curves with companion/host mass ratios of q ∼ 0.01 and ∼0.17, respectively. A significant finite source effect in the best-fit planetary model (q ∼ 0.01) reveals a small angular Einstein radius of θE 0.03 mas, which favors a low-mass lens. We obtain the posterior probability distribution of the lens properties from a Bayesian analysis. The results for the planetary models strongly depend on a power-law index in planetary-mass regime, pl, in the assumed mass function. In summary, there are two solutions of the lens system: (1) a BD/planetary-mass boundary object orbited by a super-Neptune (the planetary model with pl = 0.49) and (2) a BD binary (the binary model). If the planetary models are correct, this system can be one of a new class of planetary system, having a low host mass and also a planetary-mass ratio (q < 0.03) between the companion and its host. The discovery of the event is important for the study of planetary formation in very low-mass objects. In addition, it is important to consider all viable solutions in these kinds of ambiguous events in order for the future comprehensive statistical analyses of planetary/binary microlensing events.
We present the analysis of stellar binary microlensing event OGLE-2015-BLG-0060 based
on observations obtained from 13 different telescopes. Intensive coverage of the anomalous
parts of the light ...curve was achieved by automated follow-up observations from the robotic
telescopes of the Las Cumbres Observatory. We show that, for the first time, all main features of
an anomalous microlensing event are well covered by follow-up data, allowing us to estimate
the physical parameters of the lens. The strong detection of second-order effects in the event
light curve necessitates the inclusion of longer-baseline survey data in order to constrain
the parallax vector. We find that the event was most likely caused by a stellar binary-lens
with masses M ͙(1) = 0.87 ± 0.12M(☉) and M ͙(2)= 0.77 ± 0.11M(☉). The distance to the lensing
system is 6.41 ± 0.14 kpc and the projected separation between the two components is
13.85 ± 0.16 au. Alternative interpretations are also considered.
Color-magnitude diagrams (CMDs) are presented for the Spitzer SAGE (Surveying the Agents of a Galaxy's Evolution) survey of the Large Magellanic Cloud (LMC). IRAC and MIPS 24 mm epoch 1 data are ...presented. These data represent the deepest, widest mid-infrared CMDs of their kind ever produced in the LMC. Combined with the Two Micron All Sky Survey, the diagrams are used to delineate the evolved stellar populations in the LMC, as well as Galactic foreground and extragalactic background populations. Some 32,000 evolved stars brighter than the tip of the red giant branch are identified. Of these, approximately 17,500 are classified as oxygen-rich, 7000 as carbon-rich, and another 1200 as 'extreme' asymptotic giant branch (AGB) stars. Brighter members of the latter group have been called 'obscured' AGB stars in the literature owing to their dusty circumstellar envelopes. A large number (1200) of luminous oxygen-rich AGB stars/M supergiants are also identified. Finally, there is strong evidence from the 24 mm MIPS channel that previously unexplored, lower luminosity oxygen-rich AGB stars contribute significantly to the mass-loss budget of the LMC (1200 such sources are identified).
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