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ABSTRACT In this work, we update and develop algorithms for KMTNet tender-love care (TLC) photometry in order to create a new, mostly automated, TLC pipeline. We then start a project to systematically apply the new TLC pipeline to the historic KMTNet microlensing events, and search for buried planetary signals. We report the discovery of such a planet candidate in the microlensing event MOA-2019-BLG-421/KMT-2019-BLG-2991. The anomalous signal can be explained by either a planet around the lens star or the orbital motion of the source star. For the planetary interpretation, despite many degenerate solutions, the planet is most likely to be a Jovian planet orbiting an M or K dwarf, which is a typical microlensing planet. The discovery proves that the project can indeed increase the sensitivity of historic events and find previously undiscovered signals. 

Abstract The current studies of microlensing planets are limited by small number statistics. Follow-up observations of high-magnification microlensing events can efficiently form a statistical planetary sample. Since 2020, the Korea Microlensing Telescope Network (KMTNet) and the Las Cumbres Observatory (LCO) global network have been conducting a follow-up program for high-magnification KMTNet events. Here, we report the detection and analysis of a microlensing planetary event, KMT-2023-BLG-1431, for which the subtle (0.05 mag) and short-lived (5 hr) planetary signature was characterized by the follow-up from KMTNet and LCO. A binary-lens single-source (2L1S) analysis reveals a planet/host mass ratio ofq= (0.72 ± 0.07) × 10⁻⁴, and the single-lens binary-source (1L2S) model is excluded by Δχ²= 80. A Bayesian analysis using a Galactic model yields estimates of the host star mass of $M_{\mathrm{host}}={0.57}_{-0.29}^{+0.33}{M}_{\odot }$, the planetary mass of $M_{\mathrm{planet}}={13.5}_{-6.8}^{+8.1}{M}_{\oplus }$, and the lens distance of $D_{\mathrm{L}}={6.9}_{-1.7}^{+0.8}$kpc. The projected planet-host separation of $a_{\perp }={2.3}_{-0.5}^{+0.5}$au or $a_{\perp }={3.2}_{-0.8}^{+0.7}$au, subject to the close/wide degeneracy. We also find that without the follow-up data, the survey-only data cannot break the degeneracy of central/resonant caustics and the degeneracy of 2L1S/1L2S models, showing the importance of follow-up observations for current microlensing surveys. 

Aims.We investigate the previous microlensing data collected by the KMTNet survey in search of anomalous events for which no precise interpretations of the anomalies had been suggested. From this investigation, we find that the anomaly in the lensing light curve of the event KMT-2021-BLG-1547 is approximately described by a binary-lens (2L1S) model with a lens possessing a giant planet, but the model leaves unexplained residuals. Methods.We investigated the origin of the residuals by testing more sophisticated models that include either an extra lens component (3L1S model) or an extra source star (2L2S model) on top of the 2L1S configuration of the lens system. From these analyses, we find that the residuals from the 2L1S model originate from the existence of a faint companion to the source. The 2L2S solution substantially reduces the residuals and improves the model fit by Δχ²= 67.1 with respect to the 2L1S solution. The 3L1S solution also improves the fit, but its fit is worse than that of the 2L2S solution by Δχ²= 24.7. Results.According to the 2L2S solution, the lens of the event is a planetary system with planet and host masses (M_p/M_J,M_h/M_⊙) = (1.47_−0.77^+0.64, 0.72_−0.38^+0.32) lying at a distanceD_L= 5.07_−1.50^+0.98kpc, and the source is a binary composed of a subgiant primary of a lateGor an earlyKspectral type and a main-sequence companion of aKspectral type. The event demonstrates the need for sophisticated modeling of unexplained anomalies if one wants to construct a complete microlensing planet sample. 

Aims.We investigate the microlensing data collected in the 2022 season from high-cadence microlensing surveys in order to find weak signals produced by planetary companions to lenses. Methods.From these searches, we find that two lensing events, KMT-2022-BLG-0475 and KMT-2022-BLG-1480, exhibit weak short-term anomalies. From a detailed modeling of the lensing light curves, we determine that the anomalies are produced by planetary companions with a mass ratio to the primary ofq ~1.8 × 10⁻⁴for KMT-2022-BLG-0475L andq ~4.3 × 10⁻⁴for KMT-2022-BLG-1480L. Results.We estimate that the host and planet masses and the projected planet-host separation are (M_h/M_⊙,M_p/M_U,a_⊥/au) = (0.43_−0.23^+0.35, 1.73_−0.92^+1.42, 2.03_−0.38^+0.25) for KMT-2022-BLG-0475L and (0.18_−0.09^+0.16, 1.82_−0.92^+1.60, 1.22_−0.14^+0.15) for KMT-2022-BLG-1480L, whereM_Udenotes the mass of Uranus. The two planetary systems have some characteristics in common: the primaries of the lenses are early-mid M dwarfs that lie in the Galactic bulge, and the companions are ice giants that lie beyond the snow lines of the planetary systems. 

Aims.We inspect the microlensing data of the KMTNet survey collected during the 2018-2020 seasons in order to find lensing events produced by binaries with brown dwarf (BD) companions. Methods.In order to pick out binary-lens events with candidate BD lens companions, we conducted systematic analyses of all anomalous lensing events observed during the seasons from 2018 to 2020. By applying a selection criterion of mass ratio between the lens components of 0.03 ≲q≲ 0.1, we identify four binary-lens events with candidate BD companions, namely KMT-2018-BLG-0321, KMT-2018-BLG-0885, KMT-2019-BLG-0297, and KMT-2019-BLG-0335. For the individual events, we present interpretations of the lens systems and measure the observables that can be used to constrain the physical lens parameters. Results.The masses of the lens companions estimated from the Bayesian analyses based on the measured observables indicate high probabilities that the lens companions are in the BD mass regime; that is, 59%, 68%, 66%, and 66% for the four respective events. 

Aims.Recently, there have been reports of various types of degeneracies in the interpretation of planetary signals induced by planetary caustics. In this work we check whether such degeneracies persist in the case of well-covered signals by analyzing the lensing event KMT-2021-BLG-1150, the light curve of which exhibits a densely and continuously covered short-term anomaly. Methods.In order to identify degenerate solutions, we thoroughly investigated the parameter space by conducting dense grid searches for the lensing parameters. We then checked the severity of the degeneracy among the identified solutions. Results.We identify a pair of planetary solutions resulting from the well-known inner-outer degeneracy, and find that interpreting the anomaly is not subject to any degeneracy other than the inner-outer degeneracy. The measured parameters of the planet separation (normalized to the Einstein radius) and mass ratio between the lens components are (s,q)_in~ (1.297, 1.10 × 10⁻³) for the inner solution and (s,q)_out~ (1.242, 1.15 × 10⁻³) for the outer solution. According to a Bayesian estimation, the lens is a planetary system consisting of a planet with a massM_p= 0.88_−0.36^+0.38M_jand its host with a massM_h= 0.73_−0.30^+0.32M_⊙lying toward the Galactic center at a distanceD_L= 3.8_−1.2^+1.3kpc. By conducting analyses using mock data sets prepared to mimic those obtained with data gaps and under various observational cadences, we find that gaps in data can result in various degenerate solutions, while the observational cadence does not pose a serious degeneracy problem as long as the anomaly feature can be delineated. 

Aims. We investigate the data collected by the high-cadence microlensing surveys during the 2022 season in search of planetary signals appearing in the light curves of microlensing events. From this search, we find that the lensing event MOA-2022-BLG-249 exhibits a brief positive anomaly that lasted for about one day, with a maximum deviation of ~0.2 mag from a single-source, single-lens model. Methods. We analyzed the light curve under the two interpretations of the anomaly: one originated by a low-mass companion to the lens (planetary model) and the other originated by a faint companion to the source (binary-source model). Results. We find that the anomaly is better explained by the planetary model than the binary-source model. We identified two solutions rooted in the inner-outer degeneracy and for both of them, the estimated planet-to-host mass ratio, q ~ 8 × 10 −5 , is very small. With the constraints provided by the microlens parallax and the lower limit on the Einstein radius, as well as the blend-flux constraint, we find that the lens is a planetary system, in which a super-Earth planet, with a mass of (4.83 ± 1.44) Μ ⊕ , orbits a low-mass host star, with a mass of (0.18 ± 0.05) M ⊙ , lying in the Galactic disk at a distance of (2.00 ± 0.42) kpc. The planet detection demonstrates the elevated microlensing sensitivity of the current high-cadence lensing surveys to low-mass planets. 

Abstract As a part of the “Systematic KMTNet Planetary Anomaly Search” series, we report five new planets (namely, OGLE-2016-BLG-1635Lb, MOA-2016-BLG-532Lb, KMT-2016-BLG-0625Lb, OGLE-2016-BLG-1850Lb, and KMT-2016-BLG-1751Lb) and one planet candidate (KMT-2016-BLG-1855), which were found by searching 2016 KMTNet prime fields. Theseburiedplanets show a wide range of masses from Earth-class to super-Jupiter-class and are located in both the disk and the bulge. The ultimate goal of this series is to build a complete planet sample. Because our work provides a complementary sample to other planet detection methods, which have different detection sensitivities, our complete sample will help us to obtain a better understanding of planet demographics in our Galaxy. 

Abstract We present the analysis of three more planets from the KMTNet 2021 microlensing season. KMT-2021-BLG-0119Lb is a ∼6 M Jup planet orbiting an early M dwarf or a K dwarf, KMT-2021-BLG-0192Lb is a ∼2 M Nep planet orbiting an M dwarf, and KMT-2021-BLG-2294Lb is a ∼1.25 M Nep planet orbiting a very-low-mass M dwarf or a brown dwarf. These by-eye planet detections provide an important comparison sample to the sample selected with the AnomalyFinder algorithm, and in particular, KMT-2021-BLG-2294 is a case of a planet detected by eye but not by algorithm. KMT-2021-BLG-2294Lb is part of a population of microlensing planets around very-low-mass host stars that spans the full range of planet masses, in contrast to the planet population at ≲0.1 au, which shows a strong preference for small planets. 

Abstract We present the analysis of five black hole candidates identified from gravitational microlensing surveys. Hubble Space Telescope astrometric data and densely sampled light curves from ground-based microlensing surveys are fit with a single-source, single-lens microlensing model in order to measure the mass and luminosity of each lens and determine if it is a black hole. One of the five targets (OGLE-2011-BLG-0462/MOA-2011-BLG-191 or OB110462 for short) shows a significant >1 mas coherent astrometric shift, little to no lens flux, and has an inferred lens mass of 1.6–4.4 M ⊙ . This makes OB110462 the first definitive discovery of a compact object through astrometric microlensing and it is most likely either a neutron star or a low-mass black hole. This compact-object lens is relatively nearby (0.70–1.92 kpc) and has a slow transverse motion of <30 km s −1 . OB110462 shows significant tension between models well fit to photometry versus astrometry, making it currently difficult to distinguish between a neutron star and a black hole. Additional observations and modeling with more complex system geometries, such as binary sources, are needed to resolve the puzzling nature of this object. For the remaining four candidates, the lens masses are <2 M ⊙ , and they are unlikely to be black holes; two of the four are likely white dwarfs or neutron stars. We compare the full sample of five candidates to theoretical expectations on the number of black holes in the Milky Way (∼10 8 ) and find reasonable agreement given the small sample size.