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Creators/Authors contains: "Kotysz, K"

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  1. Context.Identifying black holes is essential for our understanding of the development of stars and can reveal novel principles of physics. Gravitational microlensing provides an exceptional opportunity to examine an undetectable population of black holes in the Milky Way. In particular, long-lasting events are likely to be associated with massive lenses, including black holes. Aims.We present an analysis of the Gaia18ajz microlensing event reported by the Gaia Science Alerts system. Gaia18ajz is a long-timescale event exhibiting features indicative of the annual microlensing parallax effect. Our objective is to estimate its lens parameters based on the best-fitting model. Methods.We used photometric data obtained from the Gaia satellite and terrestrial observatories to investigate a variety of microlensing models and calculate the most probable mass and distance to the lens, taking into consideration a Galactic model as a prior. Subsequently, we applied a mass–brightness relation to evaluate the likelihood that the lens is a main sequence star. We also describe theDarkLensCode(DLC), an open-source routine that computes the distribution of probable lens mass, distance, and luminosity employing the Galaxy priors on stellar density and velocity for microlensing events with detected microlensing parallax. Results.We modelled the Gaia18ajz event and found its two possible models, the most probable Einstein timescales for which are 316−30+36days and 299−22+25days. Applying Galaxy priors for stellar density and motion, we calculated a most probable lens mass of 4.9−2.3+5.4 Mlocated at 1.14−0.57+0.75 kpc, and a less probably mass of 11.1−4.7+10.3 Mlocated at 1.31−0.60+0.80 kpc. Our analysis of the blended light suggests that the lens is likely a dark remnant of stellar evolution rather than a main sequence star. 
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    Free, publicly-accessible full text available February 1, 2026
  2. ABSTRACT We present the first asteroseismic results for δ Scuti and γ Doradus stars observed in Sectors 1 and 2 of the TESS mission. We utilize the 2-min cadence TESS data for a sample of 117 stars to classify their behaviour regarding variability and place them in the Hertzsprung–Russell diagram using Gaia DR2 data. Included within our sample are the eponymous members of two pulsator classes, γ Doradus and SX Phoenicis. Our sample of pulsating intermediate-mass stars observed by TESS also allows us to confront theoretical models of pulsation driving in the classical instability strip for the first time and show that mixing processes in the outer envelope play an important role. We derive an empirical estimate of 74 per cent for the relative amplitude suppression factor as a result of the redder TESS passband compared to the Kepler mission using a pulsating eclipsing binary system. Furthermore, our sample contains many high-frequency pulsators, allowing us to probe the frequency variability of hot young δ Scuti stars, which were lacking in the Kepler mission data set, and identify promising targets for future asteroseismic modelling. The TESS data also allow us to refine the stellar parameters of SX Phoenicis, which is believed to be a blue straggler. 
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