Search for: All records

Aims. The light curve of the microlensing event KMT-2021-BLG-0240 exhibits a short-lasting anomaly with complex features near the peak at the 0.1 mag level from a single-lens single-source model. We conducted modeling of the lensing light curve under various interpretations to reveal the nature of the anomaly. Methods. It is found that the anomaly cannot be explained with the usual model based on a binary-lens (2L1S) or a binary-source (1L2S) interpretation. However, a 2L1S model with a planet companion can describe part of the anomaly, suggesting that the anomaly may be deformed by a tertiary lens component or a close companion to the source. From the additional modeling, we find that all the features of the anomaly can be explained with either a triple-lens (3L1S) model or a binary-lens binary-source (2L2S) model. However, it is difficult to validate the 2L2S model because the light curve does not exhibit signatures induced by the source orbital motion and the ellipsoidal variations expected by the close separation between the source stars according to the model. We, therefore, conclude that the two interpretations cannot be distinguished with the available data, and either can be correct. Results. According to the 3L1S solution, the lens ismore »a planetary system with two sub-Jovian-mass planets in which the planets have masses of 0.32–0.47 M J and 0.44–0.93 M J , and they orbit an M dwarf host. According to the 2L2S solution, on the other hand, the lens is a single planet system with a mass of ~0.21 M J orbiting a late K-dwarf host, and the source is a binary composed of a primary of a subgiant or a turnoff star and a secondary of a late G dwarf. The distance to the planetary system varies depending on the solution: ~7.0 kpc according to the 3L1S solution and ~6.6 kpc according to the 2L2S solution.« less

Aims. The light curve of the microlensing event KMT-2021-BLG-1898 exhibits a short-term central anomaly with double-bump features that cannot be explained by the usual binary-lens or binary-source interpretations. With the aim of interpreting the anomaly, we analyze the lensing light curve under various sophisticated models. Methods. We find that the anomaly is explained by a model, in which both the lens and source are binaries (2L2S model). For this interpretation, the lens is a planetary system with a planet/host mass ratio of q ~ 1.5 × 10 −3 , and the source is a binary composed of a turn off or a subgiant star and a mid K dwarf. The double-bump feature of the anomaly can also be depicted by a triple-lens model (3L1S model), in which the lens is a planetary system containing two planets. Among the two interpretations, the 2L2S model is favored over the 3L1S model not only because it yields a better fit to the data, by ∆ χ 2 = [14.3−18.5], but also the Einstein radii derived independently from the two stars of the binary source result in consistent values. According to the 2L2S interpretation, KMT-2021-BLG-1898 is the third planetary lensing event occurring on amore »binary stellar system, following MOA-2010-BLG-117 and KMT-2018-BLG-1743. Results. Under the 2L2S interpretation, we identify two solutions resulting from the close-wide degeneracy in determining the planet-host separation. From a Bayesian analysis, we estimate that the planet has a mass of ~0.7−0.8 M J , and it orbits an early M dwarf host with a mass of ~0.5 M ⊙ . The projected planet-host separation is ~1.9 AU and ~3.0 AU according to the close and wide solutions, respectively.« less

ABSTRACT We report the complete statistical planetary sample from the prime fields (Γ ≥ 2 h−1) of the 2019 Korea Microlensing Telescope Network (KMTNet) microlensing survey. We develop the optimized KMTNet AnomalyFinder algorithm and apply it to the 2019 KMTNet prime fields. We find a total of 13 homogeneously selected planets and report the analysis of three planetary events, KMT-2019-BLG-(1042,1552,2974). The planet–host mass ratios, q, for the three planetary events are 6.34 × 10−4, 4.89 × 10−3, and 6.18 × 10−4, respectively. A Bayesian analysis indicates the three planets are all cold giant planets beyond the snow line of their host stars. The 13 planets are basically uniform in log q over the range −5.0 < log q < −1.5. This result suggests that the planets below qbreak = 1.7 × 10−4 proposed by the MOA-II survey may be more common than previously believed. This work is an early component of a large project to determine the KMTNet mass-ratio function, and the whole sample of 2016–2019 KMTNet events should contain about 120 planets.

We present the analysis of three more planets from the KMTNet 2021 microlensing season. KMT-2021-BLG-0119Lb is a ∼6M_Jupplanet orbiting an early M dwarf or a K dwarf, KMT-2021-BLG-0192Lb is a ∼2M_Nepplanet orbiting an M dwarf, and KMT-2021-BLG-2294Lb is a ∼1.25M_Nepplanet 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.

Aims. With the aim of finding short-term planetary signals, we investigated the data collected from current high-cadence microlensing surveys. Methods. From this investigation, we found four planetary systems with low planet-to-host mass ratios, including OGLE-2017-BLG-1691L, KMT-2021-BLG-0320L, KMT-2021-BLG-1303L, and KMT-2021-BLG-1554L. Despite the short durations, ranging from a few hours to a couple of days, the planetary signals were clearly detected by the combined data of the lensing surveys. We found that three of the planetary systems have mass ratios on the order of 10 −4 and the other has a mass ratio that is slightly greater than 10 −3 . Results. The estimated masses indicate that all discovered planets have sub-Jovian masses. The planet masses of KMT-2021-BLG-0320Lb, KMT-2021-BLG-1303Lb, and KMT-2021-BLG-1554Lb correspond to ~0.10, ~0.38, and ~0.12 times the mass of the Jupiter, and the mass of OGLE-2017-BLG-1691Lb corresponds to that of the Uranus. The estimated mass of the planet host KMT-2021-BLG-1554L, M host ~ 0.08 M ⊙ , corresponds to the boundary between a star and a brown dwarf. Besides this system, the host stars of the other planetary systems are low-mass stars with masses in the range of ~[0.3–0.6] M ⊙ . The discoveries of the planets fully demonstrate themore »capability of the current high-cadence microlensing surveys in detecting low-mass planets.« less

Aims. With the aim of interpreting anomalous lensing events with no suggested models, we conducted a project of reinvestigating microlensing data collected in and before the 2019 season. In this work, we report a multi-planet system, OGLE-2019-BLG-0468L, that was found as a result of this project. Methods. The light curve of the lensing event OGLE-2019-BLG-0468, which consists of three distinctive anomaly features, could not be explained by the usual binary-lens or binary-source interpretations. We find a solution that explains all anomaly features with a triple-lens interpretation, in which the lens is composed of two planets and their host, making the lens the fourth multi-planet system securely found by microlensing. Results. The two planets have masses of ~3.4  M J and ~10.2  M J , and they are orbiting around a G-type star with a mass of ~0.9  M ⊙ and a distance of ~4.4 kpc. The host of the planets is most likely responsible for the light of the baseline object, although the possibility of the host being a companion to the baseline object cannot be ruled out.

We complete the analysis of all 2018 prime-field microlensing planets identified by the Korea Microlensing Telescope Network (KMTNet) Anomaly Finder. Among the ten previously unpublished events with clear planetary solutions, eight are either unambiguously planetary or are very likely to be planetary in nature: OGLE-2018-BLG-1126, KMT-2018-BLG-2004, OGLE-2018-BLG-1647, OGLE-2018-BLG-1367, OGLE-2018-BLG-1544, OGLE-2018-BLG-0932, OGLE-2018-BLG-1212, and KMT-2018-BLG-2718. Combined with the four previously published new Anomaly Finder events and 12 previously published (or in preparation) planets that were discovered by eye, this makes a total of 24 2018 prime-field planets discovered or recovered by Anomaly Finder. Together with a paper in preparation on 2018 subprime planets, this work lays the basis for the first statistical analysis of the planet mass-ratio function based on planets identified in KMTNet data. By systematically applying the heuristic analysis to each event, we identified the small modification in their formalism that is needed to unify the so-called close-wide and inner-outer degeneracies.

Aims. We conducted a project of reinvestigating the 2017–2019 microlensing data collected by high-cadence surveys with the aim of finding planets that were missed due to the deviations of planetary signals from the typical form of short-term anomalies. Methods. The project led us to find three planets, KMT-2017-BLG-2509Lb, OGLE-2017-BLG-1099Lb, and OGLE-2019-BLG-0299Lb. The lensing light curves of the events have a common characteristic: the planetary signals were produced by the crossings of faint source stars over the resonant caustics formed by giant planets located near the Einstein rings of host stars. Results. For all planetary events, the lensing solutions are uniquely determined without any degeneracy. It is estimated that the host masses are in the range of 0.45 ≲ M ∕ M ⊙ ≲ 0.59, which corresponds to early M to late K dwarfs, and thus the host stars are less massive than the Sun. On the other hand, the planets, with masses in the range of 2.1 ≲ M ∕ M J ≲ 6.2, are heavier than the heaviest planet of the Solar System, that is, Jupiter. The planets in all systems lie beyond the snow lines of the hosts, and thus the discovered planetary systems, together with many othermore »microlensing planetary systems, support the idea that massive gas-giant planets are commonplace around low-mass stars. We discuss the role of late-time high-resolution imaging in clarifying resonant-image lenses with very faint sources.« less

Abstract We report on the observations, analysis and interpretation of the microlensing event MOA-2019-BLG-008. The observed anomaly in the photometric light curve is best described through a binary lens model. In this model, the source did not cross caustics and no finite-source effects were observed. Therefore, the angular Einstein ring radius θ E cannot be measured from the light curve alone. However, the large event duration, t E ∼ 80 days, allows a precise measurement of the microlensing parallax π E . In addition to the constraints on the angular radius θ * and the apparent brightness I s of the source, we employ the Besançon and GalMod galactic models to estimate the physical properties of the lens. We find excellent agreement between the predictions of the two galactic models: the companion is likely a resident of the brown dwarf desert with a mass M p ∼ 30 M Jup , and the host is a main-sequence dwarf star. The lens lies along the line of sight to the Galactic bulge, at a distance of ≤4 kpc. We estimate that in about 10 yr the lens and source will be separated by ∼55 mas, and it will be possible tomore »confirm the exact nature of the lensing system by using high-resolution imaging from ground- or space-based observatories.« less

Follow-up observations of high-magnification gravitational microlensing events can fully exploit their intrinsic sensitivity to detect extrasolar planets, especially those with small mass ratios. To make followup observations more uniform and efficient, we develop a system, HighMagFinder, to automatically alert possible ongoing high-magnification events based on the real-time data from the Korea Microlensing Telescope Network (KMTNet). We started a new phase of follow-up observations with the help of HighMagFinder in 2021. Here we report the discovery of two planets in high-magnification microlensing events, KMT-2021-BLG-0171 and KMT-2021-BLG-1689, which were identified by the HighMagFinder. We find that both events suffer the ‘central-resonant’ caustic degeneracy. The planet-host mass-ratio is q ∼ 4.7 × 10−5 or q ∼ 2.2 × 10−5 for KMT-2021-BLG-0171, and q ∼ 2.5 × 10−4 or q ∼ 1.8 × 10−4 for KMT-2021-BLG-1689. Together with two other events, four cases that suffer such degeneracy have been discovered in the 2021 season alone, indicating that the degenerate solutions may have been missed in some previous studies. We also propose a quantitative factor to weight the probability of each solution from the phase space. The resonant interpretations for the two events are disfavoured under this consideration. This factor can be included in future statistical studies to weight degenerate solutions.