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Title: MOA-2019-BLG-008Lb: A New Microlensing Detection of an Object at the Planet/Brown Dwarf Boundary
Abstract We report on the observations, analysis and interpretation of the microlensing event MOA-2019-BLG-008. The observed anomaly in the photometric light curve is best described through a binary lens model. In this model, the source did not cross caustics and no finite-source effects were observed. Therefore, the angular Einstein ring radius θ E cannot be measured from the light curve alone. However, the large event duration, t E ∼ 80 days, allows a precise measurement of the microlensing parallax π E . In addition to the constraints on the angular radius θ * and the apparent brightness I s of the source, we employ the Besançon and GalMod galactic models to estimate the physical properties of the lens. We find excellent agreement between the predictions of the two galactic models: the companion is likely a resident of the brown dwarf desert with a mass M p ∼ 30 M Jup , and the host is a main-sequence dwarf star. The lens lies along the line of sight to the Galactic bulge, at a distance of ≤4 kpc. We estimate that in about 10 yr the lens and source will be separated by ∼55 mas, and it will be possible to more » confirm the exact nature of the lensing system by using high-resolution imaging from ground- or space-based observatories. « less
Authors:
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Award ID(s):
2108414
Publication Date:
NSF-PAR ID:
10350590
Journal Name:
The Astronomical Journal
Volume:
164
Issue:
3
Page Range or eLocation-ID:
75
ISSN:
0004-6256
Sponsoring Org:
National Science Foundation
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