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Aims. We investigate the microlensing data collected during the 2017–2019 seasons in the peripheral Galactic bulge fields with the aim of finding planetary signals in microlensing light curves observed with relatively sparse coverage. Methods. We first sort out lensing events with weak short-term anomalies in the lensing light curves from the visual inspection of all non-prime-field events, and then test various interpretations of the anomalies. From this procedure, we find two previously unidentified candidate planetary lensing events KMT-2017-BLG-0673 and KMT-2019-BLG-0414. It is found that the planetary signal of KMT-2017-BLG-0673 was produced by the source crossing over a planet-induced caustic, but it was previously missed because of the sparse coverage of the signal. On the other hand, the possibly planetary signal of KMT-2019-BLG-0414 was generated without caustic crossing, and it was previously missed due to the weakness of the signal. We identify a unique planetary solution for KMT-2017-BLG-0673. However, for KMT-2019-BLG-0414, we identify two pairs of planetary solutions, for each of which there are two solutions caused by the close-wide degeneracy, and a slightly less favored binary-source solution, in which a single lens mass gravitationally magnified a rapidly orbiting binary source with a faint companion (xallarap). Results. From Bayesian analyses, it is estimated that the planet KMT-2017-BLG-0673Lb has a mass of 3.7 −2.1 +2.2 M J , and it is orbiting a late K-type host star with a mass of 0.63 −0.35 +0.37 M ⊙ . Under the planetary interpretation of KMT-2010-BLG-0414L, a star with a mass of 0.74 −0.38 +0.43 M ⊙ hosts a planet with a mass of ~3.2–3.6 M J depending on the solution. We discuss the possible resolution of the planet-xallarap degeneracy of KMT-2019-BLG-0414 by future adaptive-optics observations on 30 m class telescopes. The detections of the planets indicate the need for thorough investigations of non-prime-field lensing events for the complete census of microlensing planet samples.
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This content will become publicly available on September 1, 2025
KMT-2021-BLG-2609Lb and KMT-2022-BLG-0303Lb: Microlensing planets identified through signals produced by major-image perturbations
Aims.We investigate microlensing data collected by the Korea Microlensing Telescope Network (KMTNet) survey during the 2021 and 2022 seasons to identify planetary lensing events displaying a consistent anomalous pattern. Our investigation reveals that the light curves of two lensing events, KMT-2021-BLG-2609 and KMT-2022-BLG-0303, exhibit a similar anomaly, in which short-term positive deviations appear on the sides of the low-magnification lensing light curves. Methods.To unravel the nature of these anomalies, we meticulously analyze each of the lensing events. Our investigations reveal that these anomalies stem from a shared channel, wherein the source passed near the planetary caustic induced by a planet with projected separations from the host star exceeding the Einstein radius. We find that interpreting the anomaly of KMT-2021-BLG-2609 is complicated by the “inner–outer” degeneracy, whereas for KMT-2022-BLG-0303, there is no such issue despite similar lens-system configurations. In addition to this degeneracy, interpreting the anomaly in KMT-2021-BLG-2609 involves an additional degeneracy between a pair of solutions, in which the source partially envelops the caustic and the other three solutions in which the source fully envelopes the caustic. As in an earlier case of this so-called von Schlieffen–Cannae degeneracy, the former solutions have substantially higher mass ratio. Results.Through Bayesian analyses conducted based on the measured lensing observables of the event time scale and angular Einstein radius, the host of KMT-2021-BLG-2609L is determined to be a low-mass star with a mass ~0.2M⊙in terms of a median posterior value, while the planet’s mass ranges from approximately 0.032 to 0.112 times that of Jupiter, depending on the solutions. For the planetary system KMT-2022-BLG-0303L, it features a planet with a mass of approximately 0.51MJand a host star with a mass of about 0.37M⊙. In both cases, the lenses are most likely situated in the bulge.
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- Award ID(s):
- 2108414
- PAR ID:
- 10543462
- Author(s) / Creator(s):
- ; ; ; ; ; ; ; ; ; ; ; ; ; ; ; ; ; ; ; more »
- Publisher / Repository:
- EDP Sciences
- Date Published:
- Journal Name:
- Astronomy & Astrophysics
- Volume:
- 689
- ISSN:
- 0004-6361
- Page Range / eLocation ID:
- A209
- Format(s):
- Medium: X
- Sponsoring Org:
- National Science Foundation
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