Spitzer Space Telescope Observations of the Aftermath of Microlensing Event MACHO-LMC-5
Hien T. Nguyen, Nitya Kallivayalil, M. W. Werner, Charles Alcock, B. M. Patten, Daniel Stern
Abstract
Open-access reader
Hien T. Nguyen, Nitya Kallivayalil, M. W. Werner, Charles Alcock, B. M. Patten, Daniel Stern
Abstract
Open-access reader
We have carried out photometry of the microlensing event MACHO-LMC-5 with Spitzer's IRAC ten years after the magnification of the LMC source star was recorded. This event is unique in the annals of gravitational microlensing: the lensing star itself has been observed using HST (once with WFPC2 and twice with ACS/HRC). Since the separation between the source and lens at the epoch of the Spitzer observations was $\sim0.24''$, the two stars cannot be resolved in the Spitzer images. However, the IRAC photometry clearly establishes that the lens is a M5 dwarf star from its infrared excess, which in turn yields a mass of $\sim0.2 M_{\odot}$. This demonstrates the potential of Spitzer to detect the lenses in other gravitational microlensing events.
OpenAlex reports 1 citations for this work. Citation counts describe recorded attention and do not establish research quality.
A contribution statement is not available in the OpenAlex record.
Method details are not available in the OpenAlex metadata.
Findings are not separately available in the OpenAlex metadata.
Limitations are not available in the OpenAlex metadata.
Application details are not available in the OpenAlex metadata.
We have carried out photometry of the microlensing event MACHO-LMC-5 with Spitzer's IRAC ten years after the magnification of the LMC source star was recorded. This event is unique in the annals of gravitational microlensing: the lensing star itself has been observed using HST (once with WFPC2 and twice with ACS/HRC). Since the separation between the source and lens at the epoch of the Spitzer observations was $\sim0.24''$, the two stars cannot be resolved in the Spitzer images. However, the IRAC photometry clearly establishes that the lens is a M5 dwarf star from its infrared excess, which in turn yields a mass of $\sim0.2 M_{\odot}$. This demonstrates the potential of Spitzer to detect the lenses in other gravitational microlensing events.
Key concepts: Gravitational microlensing, Physics, Spitzer Space Telescope, Astrophysics, Astronomy, Photometry (optics), Gravitational lens, James Webb Space Telescope