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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 M_⊙located at 1.14_−0.57^+0.75 kpc, and a less probably mass of 11.1_−4.7^+10.3 M_⊙located 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. 

We report the analysis of a planetary microlensing event AT2021uey. The event was observed outside the Galactic bulge and alerted both space-(Gaia) and ground-based (ZTF and ASAS-SN) surveys. From the observed data, we find that the lens system is located at a distance of ∼1 kpc and comprises an M-dwarf host star of about half a solar mass, orbited by a Jupiter-like planet beyond the snowline. The source star could be a metal-poor giant located in the halo according to the spectral analyses and modelling. Hence, AT2021uey is a unique example of the binary-lens event outside the bulge that is offered by a disc-halo lens-source combination. 

During the last 25 yr, hundreds of binary stars and planets have been discovered toward the Galactic bulge by microlensing surveys. Thanks to a new generation of large-sky surveys, it is now possible to regularly detect microlensing events across the entire sky. The OMEGA Key Projet at the Las Cumbres Observatory carries out automated follow-up observations of microlensing events alerted by these surveys with the aim of identifying and characterizing exoplanets as well as stellar remnants. In this study, we present the analysis of the binary lens event Gaia20bof. By automatically requesting additional observations, the OMEGA Key Project obtained dense time coverage of an anomaly near the peak of the event, allowing characterization of the lensing system. The observed anomaly in the lightcurve is due to a binary lens. However, several models can explain the observations. Spectroscopic observations indicate that the source is located at ≤2.0 kpc, in agreement with the parallax measurements from Gaia. While the models are currently degenerate, future observations, especially the Gaia astrometric time series as well as high-resolution imaging, will provide extra constraints to distinguish between them. 

Context. Gravitational microlensing is a method that is used to discover planet-hosting systems at distances of several kiloparsec in the Galactic disk and bulge. We present the analysis of a microlensing event reported by the Gaia photometric alert team that might have a bright lens. Aims: In order to infer the mass and distance to the lensing system, the parallax measurement at the position of Gaia21blx was used. In this particular case, the source and the lens have comparable magnitudes and we cannot attribute the parallax measured by Gaia to the lens or source alone. Methods: Since the blending flux is important, we assumed that the Gaia parallax is the flux-weighted average of the parallaxes of the lens and source. Combining this assumption with the information from the microlensing models and the finite source effects we were able to resolve all degeneracies and thus obtained the mass, distance, luminosities and projected kinematics of the binary lens and the source. Results: According to the best model, the lens is a binary system at 2.18 ± 0.07 kpc from Earth. It is composed of a G star with 0.95 ± 0.17 M⊙ and a K star with 0.53 ± 0.07 M⊙. The source is likely to be an F subgiant star at 2.38 ± 1.71 kpc with a mass of 1.10 ± 0.18 M⊙. Both lenses and the source follow the kinematics of the thin-disk population. We also discuss alternative models, that are disfavored by the data or by prior expectations, however. 

We report discovering an exoplanet from following up a microlensing event alerted by Gaia. The event Gaia22dkv is toward a disk source rather than the traditional bulge microlensing fields. Our primary analysis yields a Jovian planet with at a projected orbital separation au, and the host is a ∼1.1 M ⊙ turnoff star at ∼1.3 kpc. At , the host is far brighter than any previously discovered microlensing planet host, opening up the opportunity to test the microlensing model with radial velocity (RV) observations. RV data can be used to measure the planet's orbital period and eccentricity, and they also enable searching for inner planets of the microlensing cold Jupiter, as expected from the "inner–outer correlation" inferred from Kepler and RV discoveries. Furthermore, we show that Gaia astrometric microlensing will not only allow precise measurements of its angular Einstein radius θ E but also directly measure the microlens parallax vector and unambiguously break a geometric light-curve degeneracy, leading to the definitive characterization of the lens system. 

Abstract We report discovering an exoplanet from following up a microlensing event alerted by Gaia. The event Gaia22dkv is toward a disk source rather than the traditional bulge microlensing fields. Our primary analysis yields a Jovian planet with $M_{\mathrm{p}}={0.59}_{-0.05}^{+0.15}{M}_{\mathrm{J}}$at a projected orbital separation $r_{\perp }={1.4}_{-0.3}^{+0.8}$au, and the host is a ∼1.1M_⊙turnoff star at ∼1.3 kpc. At $r\prime \approx 14$, the host is far brighter than any previously discovered microlensing planet host, opening up the opportunity to test the microlensing model with radial velocity (RV) observations. RV data can be used to measure the planet’s orbital period and eccentricity, and they also enable searching for inner planets of the microlensing cold Jupiter, as expected from the “inner–outer correlation” inferred from Kepler and RV discoveries. Furthermore, we show that Gaia astrometric microlensing will not only allow precise measurements of its angular Einstein radiusθ_Ebut also directly measure the microlens parallax vector and unambiguously break a geometric light-curve degeneracy, leading to the definitive characterization of the lens system. 

Abstract We analyze the MOA-2020-BLG-208 gravitational microlensing event and present the discovery and characterization of a new planet, MOA-2020-BLG-208Lb, with an estimated sub-Saturn mass. With a mass ratio q = 3.17 − 0.26 + 0.28 × 10 − 4 , the planet lies near the peak of the mass-ratio function derived by the MOA collaboration and near the edge of expected sample sensitivity. For these estimates we provide results using two mass-law priors: one assuming that all stars have an equal planet-hosting probability, and the other assuming that planets are more likely to orbit around more massive stars. In the first scenario, we estimate that the lens system is likely to be a planet of mass m planet = 46 − 24 + 42 M ⊕ and a host star of mass M host = 0.43 − 0.23 + 0.39 M ⊙ , located at a distance D L = 7.49 − 1.13 + 0.99 kpc . For the second scenario, we estimate m planet = 69 − 34 + 37 M ⊕ , M host = 0.66 − 0.32 + 0.35 M ⊙ , and D L = 7.81 − 0.93 + 0.93 kpc . The planet has a projected separation as a fraction of the Einstein ring radius s = 1.3807 − 0.0018 + 0.0018 . As a cool sub-Saturn-mass planet, this planet adds to a growing collection of evidence for revised planetary formation models. 

Gaia16aye was a binary microlensing event discovered in the direction towards the northern Galactic disc and was one of the first microlensing events detected and alerted to by the Gaia space mission. Its light curve exhibited five distinct brightening episodes, reaching up to I  = 12 mag, and it was covered in great detail with almost 25 000 data points gathered by a network of telescopes. We present the photometric and spectroscopic follow-up covering 500 days of the event evolution. We employed a full Keplerian binary orbit microlensing model combined with the motion of Earth and Gaia around the Sun to reproduce the complex light curve. The photometric data allowed us to solve the microlensing event entirely and to derive the complete and unique set of orbital parameters of the binary lensing system. We also report on the detection of the first-ever microlensing space-parallax between the Earth and Gaia located at L2. The properties of the binary system were derived from microlensing parameters, and we found that the system is composed of two main-sequence stars with masses 0.57 ± 0.05 M ⊙ and 0.36 ± 0.03 M ⊙ at 780 pc, with an orbital period of 2.88 years and an eccentricity of 0.30. We also predict the astrometric microlensing signal for this binary lens as it will be seen by Gaia as well as the radial velocity curve for the binary system. Events such as Gaia16aye indicate the potential for the microlensing method of probing the mass function of dark objects, including black holes, in directions other than that of the Galactic bulge. This case also emphasises the importance of long-term time-domain coordinated observations that can be made with a network of heterogeneous telescopes.