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Abstract To conduct a comprehensive demographic study of microlensing planets, it is essential to detect all planetary signals that exceed a predefined threshold through a detailed analysis of survey data. We reanalyzed previous data from the Korea Microlensing Telescope Network survey to search for weak planetary signals in lensing events involving faint source stars. For events with potential short-term anomalies identified in the initial search, we validated the signals using rereduced data and conducted detailed modeling of the anomalous events. This process led to the discovery of four planetary events: KMT-2017-BLG-2197, KMT-2022-BLG-1790, KMT-2022-BLG-2076, and KMT-2023-BLG-2209. For all these events, the modeling resulted in two solutions due to the well-known inner–outer degeneracy. The estimated masses of the planets and their hosts are approximately (M_p/M_J, M_h/M_⊙) ∼ (0.36, 7.9) for KMT-2017-BLG-2197L, ∼(0.6, 1.7) for KMT-2022-BLG-1790L, ∼(0.67, 0.9) for KMT-2022-BLG-2076L, and ∼(0.73, 0.8) for KMT-2023-BLG-2209L. The planetary systems KMT-2017-BLG-2197L and KMT-2022-BLG-1790L are likely located in the Galactic bulge, while KMT-2022-BLG-2076L and KMT-2023-BLG-2209L are more likely situated in the disk. 

Abstract To exhume the buried signatures of free-floating planets (FFPs) with small angular Einstein radiusθ_E, we build a new full-frame difference image pipeline for the Korean Microlensing Telescope Network (KMTNet) survey based on the newly optimized pySIS package. We introduce the detailed processes of the new pipeline, including frame registration, difference image analysis, and light curve extraction. To test this pipeline, we extract one-year light curves for 483,068 stars withI ≲ 17 and conduct a model-independent search for microlensing events. The search finds 36 microlensing events, including five new events and six events discovered by other collaborations but missed by previous KMTNet searches. We find that the light curves from the new pipeline are precise enough to be sensitive to FFPs withθ_E ∼ 1μas. Using the new pipeline, a complete FFP search on the eight-year KMTNet images can be finished within six months and then yield the FFP mass function. The new pipeline can be used for a new KMTNet AlertFinder system, with significantly reduced false positives. 

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 0.51M_Jand a host star with a mass of about 0.37M_⊙. In both cases, the lenses are most likely situated in the bulge. 

Abstract Traditional microlensing event vetting methods require highly trained human experts, and the process is both complex and time consuming. This reliance on manual inspection often leads to inefficiencies and constrains the ability to scale for widespread exoplanet detection, ultimately hindering discovery rates. To address the limits of traditional microlensing event vetting, we have developed LensNet, a machine learning pipeline specifically designed to distinguish legitimate microlensing events from false positives caused by instrumental artifacts, such as pixel bleed trails and diffraction spikes. Our system operates in conjunction with a preliminary algorithm that detects increasing trends in flux. These flagged instances are then passed to LensNet for further classification, allowing for timely alerts and follow-up observations. Tailored for the multiobservatory setup of the Korea Microlensing Telescope Network and trained on a rich data set of manually classified events, LensNet is optimized for early detection and warning of microlensing occurrences, enabling astronomers to organize follow-up observations promptly. The internal model of the pipeline employs a multibranch Recurrent Neural Network architecture that evaluates time-series flux data with contextual information, including sky background, the full width at half-maximum of the target star, flux errors, point-spread function quality flags, and air mass for each observation. We demonstrate a classification accuracy above 87.5% and anticipate further improvements as we expand our training set and continue to refine the algorithm. 

Abstract We report a free-floating planet (FFP) candidate identified from the analysis of the microlensing event KMT-2023-BLG-2669. The lensing light curve is characterized by a short duration (≲3 days) and a small amplitude (≲0.7 mag). From the analysis, we find an Einstein timescale oft_E⋍ 0.33 days and an Einstein radius ofθ_E⋍ 4.41μas. These measurements enable us to infer the lens mass as $M=8M_{\oplus }{\left({\pi }_{\mathrm{rel}}/0.1\mathrm{mas}\right)}^{-1}$, whereπ_relis the relative lens–source parallax. The inference implies that the lens is a sub-Neptune- to Saturn-mass object, depending on its unknown distance. This is the ninth isolated planetary mass microlens withθ_E< 10μas, which is a useful threshold for an FFP candidate. We conduct extensive searches for possible signals of a host star in the light curve, but find no strong evidence for the host. We investigate the possibility of using late-time high-resolution imaging to probe for possible hosts. In particular, we discuss the case of finite-source point-lens FFP candidates, for which it would be possible to search for very-wide-separation hosts immediately, although such searches are “high risk, high reward.” 

Abstract We present the analysis of a microlensing event KMT-2022-BLG-0086 of which the overall light curve is not described by a binary-lens single-source (2L1S) model, which suggests the existence of an extra lens or an extra source. We found that the event is best explained by the binary-lens binary-source (2L2S) model, but the 2L2S model is only favored over the triple-lens single-source (3L1S) model by Δχ² ≃ 9. Although the event has noticeable anomalies around the peak of the light curve, they are not enough covered to constrain the angular Einstein radiusθ_E, thus we only measure the minimum angular Einstein radius ${\theta }_{\mathrm{E},\min }$. From the Bayesian analysis, it is found that that the binary lens system is a binary star with masses of $(m_1,m_2)=(0.46_{-0.25}^{+0.35}{M}_{\odot },0.75_{-0.55}^{+0.67}{M}_{\odot })$at a distance of $D_{\mathrm{L}}=5.87_{-1.79}^{+1.21}$kpc, while the triple lens system is a brown dwarf or a massive giant planet in a low-mass binary-star system with masses of $(m_1,m_2,m_3)=(0.43_{-0.35}^{+0.41}{M}_{\odot },0.056_{-0.047}^{+0.055}{M}_{\odot }$, $20.84_{-17.04}^{+20.20}{M}_{\mathrm{J}})$at a distance of $D_{\mathrm{L}}=4.06_{-3.28}^{+1.39}$kpc, indicating a disk lens system. The 2L2S model yields the relative lens-source proper motion ofμ_rel ≥ 4.6 mas yr⁻¹that is consistent with the Bayesian result, whereas the 3L1S model yieldsμ_rel ≥ 18.9 mas yr⁻¹, which is more than three times larger than that of a typical disk object of ∼6 mas yr⁻¹and thus is not consistent with the Bayesian result. This suggests that the event is likely caused by the binary-lens binary-source model. 

Abstract We measure the Einstein radius of the single-lens microlensing event KMT-2022-BLG-2397 to beθ_E= 24.8 ± 3.6μas, placing it at the upper shore of the Einstein Desert, 9 ≲θ_E/μas ≲ 25, between free-floating planets (FFPs) and bulge brown dwarfs (BDs). In contrast to the six BD (25 ≲θ_E≲ 50) events presented by Gould et al. (2022), which all had giant-star source stars, KMT-2022-BLG-2397 has a dwarf-star source, with angular radiusθ_ast∼ 0.9μas. This prompts us to study the relative utility of dwarf and giant sources for characterizing FFPs and BDs from finite-source point-lens (FSPL) microlensing events. We find “dwarfs” (including main-sequence stars and subgiants) are likely to yield twice as manyθ_Emeasurements for BDs and a comparable (but more difficult to quantify) improvement for FFPs. We show that neither current nor planned experiments will yield complete mass measurements of isolated bulge BDs, nor will any other planned experiment yield as manyθ_Emeasurements for these objects as the Korea Microlensing Telescope (KMT). Thus, the currently anticipated 10 yr KMT survey will remain the best way to study bulge BDs for several decades to come. 

Aims. Light curves of microlensing events occasionally deviate from the smooth and symmetric form of a single-lens single-source event. While most of these anomalous events can be accounted for by employing a binary-lens single-source (2L 1S) or a single-lens binary-source (1L2S) framework, it is established that a small fraction of events remain unexplained by either of these interpretations. We carried out a project in which data collected by high-cadence microlensing surveys were reinvestigated with the aim of uncovering the nature of anomalous lensing events with no proposed 2L 1S or 1L 2S models. Methods. From the project we found that the anomaly appearing in the lensing event OGLE-2023-BLG-0836 cannot be explained by the usual interpretations, and we conducted a comprehensive analysis of the event. From thorough modeling of the light curve under sophisticated lens-system configurations, we arrived at the conclusion that a triple-mass lens system is imperative to account for the anomalous features observed in the lensing light curve. Results. From the Bayesian analysis using the measured observables of the event timescale and angular Einstein radius, we determined that the least massive component of the lens has a planetary mass of 4.36_−2.18^+2.35M_J. This planet orbits within a stellar binary system composed of two stars with masses 0.71_−0.36^+0.38M_⊙and 0.56_−0.28^+0.30M_⊙. This lensing event signifies the sixth occurrence of a planetary microlensing system in which a planet belongs to a stellar binary system. 

Abstract We report the analysis of four unambiguous planets and one possible planet from the subprime fields (Γ ≤ 1 hr⁻¹) of the 2017 Korea Microlensing Telescope Network (KMTNet) microlensing survey, to complete the KMTNet AnomalyFinder planetary sample for the 2017 subprime fields. They are KMT-2017-BLG-0849, KMT-2017-BLG-1057, OGLE-2017-BLG-0364, and KMT-2017-BLG-2331 (unambiguous), as well as KMT-2017-BLG-0958 (possible). For the four unambiguous planets, the mean planet–host mass ratios,q, are (1.0, 1.2, 4.6, 13) × 10⁻⁴, the median planetary masses are (6.4, 24, 76, 171)M_⊕, and the median host masses are (0.19, 0.57, 0.49, 0.40)M_⊙, respectively, found from a Bayesian analysis. We have completed the Anomaly Finder planetary sample from the first 4 yr of KMTNet data (2016–2019), with 112 unambiguous planets in total, which nearly tripled the microlensing planetary sample. The “sub-Saturn desert” ( $\log q=\left(-3.6,-3.0\right)$) found in the 2018 and 2019 KMTNet samples is confirmed by the 2016 and 2017 KMTNet samples. 

Aims. We examined the anomalies in the light curves of the lensing events MOA-2022-BLG-033, KMT-2023-BLG-0119, and KMT- 2023-BLG-1896. These anomalies share similar traits: they occur near the peak of moderately to highly magnified events and display a distinct short-term dip feature. Methods. We conducted detailed modeling of the light curves to uncover the nature of the anomalies. This modeling revealed that all signals originated from planetary companions to the primary lens. The planet-to-host mass ratios are very low:q~ 7.5 × 10⁻⁵for MOA-2022-BLG-033,q~ 3.6 × 10⁻⁴for KMT-2023-BLG-0119, andq~ 6.9 × 10⁻⁵for KMT-2023-BLG-1896. The anomalies occurred as the source passed through the negative deviation region behind the central caustic along the planet-host axis. The solutions are subject to a common inner-outer degeneracy, which results in varying estimations of the projected planet-host separation. For KMT-2023-BLG-1896, although the planetary scenario provides the best explanation for the anomaly, the binary companion scenario is possible. Results. We estimated the physical parameters of the planetary systems through Bayesian analyses based on the lensing observables. While the event timescale was measured for all events, the angular Einstein radius was not measured for any. Additionally, the microlens parallax was measured for MOA-2022-BLG-033. The analysis identifies MOA-2022-BLG-033L as a planetary system with an ice giant with a mass of approximately 12 times that of Earth orbiting an early M dwarf star. The companion of KMT-2023-BLG-1896L is also an ice giant, with a mass of around 16 Earth masses, orbiting a mid-K-type main-sequence star. The companion of KMT-2023-BLG- 0119L, which has a mass around that of Saturn, orbits a mid-K-type dwarf star. The lens for MOA-2022-BLG-033 is highly likely to be located in the disk, whereas for the other events the probabilities of the lens being in the disk or the bulge are roughly equal.