Search

We carried out a project involving the systematic analysis of microlensing data from the Korea Microlensing Telescope Network survey. The aim of this project is to identify lensing events with complex anomaly features that are difficult to explain using standard binary-lens or binary-source models. Our investigation reveals that the light curves of microlensing events KMT-2021-BLG-0284, KMT-2022-BLG-2480, and KMT-2024-BLG-0412 display highly complex patterns with three or more anomaly features. These features cannot be adequately explained by a binary-lens (2L1S) model alone. However, the 2L1S model can effectively describe certain segments of the light curve. By incorporating an additional source into the modeling, we identified a comprehensive model that accounts for all the observed anomaly features. Bayesian analysis, based on constraints provided by lensing observables, indicates that the lenses of KMT-2021-BLG-0284 and KMT-2024-BLG-0412 are binary systems composed of M dwarfs. For KMT-2022-BLG-2480, the primary lens is an early K-type main-sequence star with an M dwarf companion. The lenses of KMT-2021-BLG-0284 and KMT-2024-BLG-0412 are likely located in the bulge, whereas the lens of KMT-2022-BLG-2480 is more likely situated in the disk. In all events, the binary stars of the sources have similar magnitudes due to a detection bias favoring binary source events with a relatively bright secondary source star, which increases detection efficiency., Comment: 9 pages, 9 figures

Observations of the Galactic bulge revealed an excess of short-timescale gravitational microlensing events that are generally attributed to a large population of free-floating or wide-orbit exoplanets. However, in recent years, some authors suggested that planetary-mass primordial black holes (PBHs) comprising a substantial fraction (1%-10%) of the dark matter in the Milky Way may be responsible for these events. If that was the case, a large number of short-timescale microlensing events should also be seen toward the Magellanic Clouds. Here, we report the results of a high-cadence survey of the Magellanic Clouds carried out from 2022 October through 2024 May as part of the Optical Gravitational Lensing Experiment. We observed almost 35 million source stars located in the central regions of the Large and Small Magellanic Clouds and found only one long-timescale microlensing event candidate. No short-timescale events were detected despite high sensitivity to such events. That allows us to infer the strongest available limits on the frequency of planetary-mass PBHs in dark matter. We find that PBHs and other compact objects with masses from $1.4 \times 10^{-8}\,M_{\odot}$ (half of the Moon mass) to $0.013\,M_{\odot}$ (planet/brown dwarf boundary) may comprise at most 1% of dark matter. That rules out the PBH origin hypothesis for the short-timescale events detected toward the Galactic bulge and indicates they are caused by the population of free-floating or wide-orbit planets., Comment: accepted for publication in ApJ Letters

Some accreting binary systems containing a white dwarf (such as classical novae or persistent supersoft sources) are seen to emit low-energy X-rays with temperatures of ~10^6 K and luminosities exceeding 10^35 erg/s. These X-rays are thought to originate from nuclear burning on the white dwarf surface, either caused by a thermonuclear runaway (classical novae) or a high mass-accretion rate that sustains steady nuclear burning (persistent sources). The discovery of transient supersoft X-rays from ASASSN-16oh challenged these ideas, as no clear signatures of mass ejection indicative of a classical nova eruption were detected, and the origin of these X-rays remains controversial. It was unclear whether this star was one of a kind or representative of a larger, as yet undiscovered, group. Here, we present the discovery of 29 stars located in the direction of the Magellanic Clouds exhibiting long-duration, symmetrical optical outbursts similar to that seen in ASASSN-16oh. We observed one of these objects during an optical outburst and found it to be emitting transient supersoft X-rays, while no signatures of mass ejection (indicative of a classical nova eruption) were detected. We therefore propose that these objects form a homogeneous group of transient supersoft X-ray sources, which we dub ``millinovae'' because their optical luminosities are approximately a thousand times fainter than those of ordinary classical novae., Comment: accepted for publication in ApJ Letters

Building on previous works to construct a homogeneous sample of brown dwarfs in binary systems, we investigate microlensing events detected by the Korea Microlensing Telescope Network (KMTNet) survey during the 2022 and 2023 seasons. Given the difficulty in distinguishing brown-dwarf events from those produced by binary lenses with nearly equal-mass components, we analyze all lensing events detected during the seasons that exhibit anomalies characteristic of binary-lens systems. Using the same criteria consistently applied in previous studies, we identify six additional brown dwarf candidates through the analysis of lensing events KMT-2022-BLG-0412, KMT-2022-BLG-2286, KMT-2023-BLG-0201, KMT-2023-BLG-0601, KMT-2023-BLG-1684, and KMT-2023-BLG-1743. An examination of the mass posteriors shows that the median mass of the lens companions ranges from 0.02 $M_\odot$ to 0.05 $M_\odot$, indicating that these companions fall within the brown-dwarf mass range. The mass of the primary lenses ranges from 0.11 $M_\odot$ to 0.68 $M_\odot$, indicating that they are low-mass stars with substantially lower masses compared to the Sun., Comment: 13 pages, 17 figures, 12 tables

We investigate the nature of the short-term anomaly that appears in the lensing light curve of KMT-2023-BLG-1866. The anomaly was only partly covered due to its short duration, less than a day, coupled with cloudy weather conditions and restricted nighttime duration. Considering intricacy of interpreting partially covered signals, we thoroughly explore all potential degenerate solutions. Through this process, we identify three planetary scenarios that equally well account for the observed anomaly. These scenarios are characterized by the specific planetary parameters: $(s, q)_{\rm inner} = [0.9740 \pm 0.0083, (2.46 \pm 1.07) \times 10^{-5}]$, $(s, q)_{\rm intermediate} = [0.9779 \pm 0.0017, (1.56 \pm 0.25)\times 10^{-5}]$, and $(s, q)_{\rm outer} = [0.9894 \pm 0.0107, (2.31 \pm 1.29)\times 10^{-5}]$, where $s$ and $q$ denote the projected separation (scaled to the Einstein radius) and mass ratio between the planet and its host, respectively. We identify that the ambiguity between the inner and outer solutions stems from the inner-outer degeneracy, while the similarity between the intermediate solution and the others is due to an accidental degeneracy caused by incomplete anomaly coverage. Through Bayesian analysis utilizing the constraints derived from measured lensing observables and blending flux, our estimation indicates that the lens system comprises a very low-mass planet orbiting an early M-type star situated approximately (6.2 -- 6.5)~kpc from Earth in terms of median posterior values for the different solutions. The median mass of the planet host is in the range of (0.48 -- 0.51)~$M_\odot$, and that of the planet's mass spans a range of (2.6 -- 4.0)~$M_{\rm E}$, varying across different solutions. The detection of KMT-2023-BLG-1866Lb signifies the extension of the lensing surveys to very low-mass planets that have been difficult to be detected from earlier surveys., Comment: 9 pages, 8 figures, 4 tables

We present the analysis of the microlensing event OGLE-2015-BLG-0845, which was affected by both the microlensing parallax and xallarap effects. The former was detected via the simultaneous observations from the ground and Spitzer, and the latter was caused by the orbital motion of the source star in a relatively close binary. The combination of these two effects led to a mass measurement of the lens object, revealing a low-mass ($0.14 \pm 0.05 M_{\odot}$) M-dwarf at the bulge distance ($7.6 \pm 1.0$ kpc). The source binary consists of a late F-type subgiant and a K-type dwarf of $\sim1.2 M_{\odot}$ and $\sim 0.9 M_{\odot}$, respectively, and the orbital period is $70 \pm 10$ days. OGLE-2015-BLG-0845 is the first single-lens event in which the lens mass is measured via the binarity of the source. Given the abundance of binary systems as potential microlensing sources, the xallarap effect may not be a rare phenomenon. Our work thus highlights the application of the xallarap effect in the mass determination of microlenses, and the same method can be used to identify isolated dark lenses., Comment: New version after the review process. Accepted for publication in Monthly Notices of the Royal Astronomical Society

We undertake a project to reexamine microlensing data gathered from high-cadence surveys. The aim of the project is to reinvestigate lensing events with light curves exhibiting intricate anomaly features associated with caustics, yet lacking prior proposed models to explain these features. Through detailed reanalyses considering higher-order effects, we identify that accounting for orbital motions of lenses is vital in accurately explaining the anomaly features observed in the light curves of the lensing events OGLE-2018-BLG-0971, MOA-2023-BLG-065, and OGLE-2023-BLG-0136. We estimate the masses and distances to the lenses by conducting Bayesian analyses using the lensing parameters of the newly found lensing solutions. From these analyses, we identify that the lenses of the events OGLE-2018-BLG-0971 and MOA-2023-BLG-065 are binaries composed of M dwarfs, while the lens of OGLE-2023-BLG-0136 is likely to be a binary composed of an early K-dwarf primary and a late M-dwarf companion. For all lensing events, the probability of the lens residing in the bulge is considerably higher than that of it being located in the disk., Comment: 11 pages, 13 figures, 6 tables

We use the spectroscopic data collected by the Magellanic Quasars Survey (MQS) as well as the photometric V- and I-band data from the Optical Gravitational Lensing Experiment (OGLE) to measure the physical parameters for active galactic nuclei (AGNs) located behind the Magellanic Clouds. The flux-uncalibrated MQS spectra were obtained with the 4-m Anglo-Australian Telescope and the AAOmega spectroscope (R=1300) in a typical ~1.5-hour visit. They span a spectral range of 3700-8500 Angstroms and have S/N ratios in a range of 3-300. We report the discovery and observational properties of 161 AGNs in this footprint, which expands the total number of spectroscopically confirmed AGNs by MQS to 919. After converting the OGLE mean magnitudes to the monochromatic luminosities at 5100 Angstroms, 3000 Angstroms, and 1350 Angstroms, we reliably measured the black hole masses for 165 out of 919 AGNs. The remaining physical parameters we provide are the bolometric luminosities and the Eddington ratios. A fraction of these AGNs have been observed by the OGLE survey since 1997 (all of them since 2001), enabling studies of correlations between their variability and physical parameters., Comment: 15 pages, 8 figures, 8 tables, accepted for publication in The Astrophysical Journal Supplement Series

We verify candidate hypervelocity red clump stars located in the Galactic bulge that were selected based on the VVV and the Gaia DR2 data by Luna et al. (2019). To do so, we analyze data from the OGLE-IV survey: difference images and astrometric time series. We have data for 30 stars out of 34 hypervelocity candidates. We confirmed high proper motion of only one of these stars and find out that it is a nearby one, hence, not hypervelocity. To sum up, we do not confirm the candidate stars as hypervelocity ones. Hence, we disprove the production rate of hypervelocity red clump stars by the central supermassive black hole provided by Luna et al. (2019)., Comment: accepted by AAS Journals

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 (2L1S) 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 carry 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 2L1S or 1L2S models. From the project, we find that the anomaly appearing in the lensing event OGLE-2023-BLG-0836 cannot be explained by the usual interpretations and conduct a comprehensive analysis of the event. From thorough modeling of the light curve under sophisticated lens-system configurations, we have arrived at the conclusion that a triple-mass lens system is imperative to account for the anomaly features observed in the lensing light curve. From the Bayesian analysis using the measured observables of the event time scale and angular Einstein radius, we determine that the least massive component of the lens has a planetary mass of $4.36^{+2.35}_{-2.18}~M_{\rm J}$. This planet orbits within a stellar binary system composed of two stars with masses $0.71^{+0.38}_{-0.36}~M_\odot$ and $0.56^{+0.30}_{-0.28}~M_\odot$. This lensing event signifies the sixth occurrence of a planetary microlensing system in which a planet belongs to a stellar binary system., Comment: 11 pages, 12 figures

Following Shin et al. (2023b), which is a part of the Systematic KMTNet Planetary Anomaly Search series (i.e., a search for planets in the 2016 KMTNet prime fields), we conduct a systematic search of the 2016 KMTNet sub-prime fields using a semi-machine-based algorithm to identify hidden anomalous events missed by the conventional by-eye search. We find four new planets and seven planet candidates that were buried in the KMTNet archive. The new planets are OGLE-2016-BLG-1598Lb, OGLE-2016-BLG-1800Lb, MOA-2016-BLG-526Lb, and KMT-2016-BLG-2321Lb, which show typical properties of microlensing planets, i.e., giant planets orbit M dwarf host stars beyond their snow lines. For the planet candidates, we find planet/binary or 2L1S/1L2S degeneracies, which are an obstacle to firmly claiming planet detections. By combining the results of Shin et al. (2023b) and this work, we find a total of nine hidden planets, which is about half the number of planets discovered by eye in 2016. With this work, we have met the goal of the systematic search series for 2016, which is to build a complete microlensing planet sample. We also show that our systematic searches significantly contribute to completing the planet sample, especially for planet/host mass ratios smaller than $10^{-3}$, which were incomplete in previous by-eye searches of the KMTNet archive., Comment: 63 pages, 16 Tables, 19 Figures, Submitted in the AAS journal

The gravitational microlensing technique is most sensitive to planets in a Jupiter-like orbit and has detected more than 200 planets. However, only a few wide-orbit ($s > 2$) microlensing planets have been discovered, where $s$ is the planet-to-host separation normalized to the angular Einstein ring radius, $\theta_{\rm E}$. Here we present the discovery and analysis of a strong candidate wide-orbit microlensing planet in the event, OGLE-2017-BLG-0448. The whole light curve exhibits long-term residuals to the static binary-lens single-source model, so we investigate the residuals by adding the microlensing parallax, microlensing xallarap, an additional lens, or an additional source. For the first time, we observe a complex degeneracy between all four effects. The wide-orbit models with $s \sim 2.5$ and a planet-to-host mass-ratio of $q \sim 10^{-4}$ are significantly preferred, but we cannot rule out the close models with $s \sim 0.35$ and $q \sim 10^{-3}$. A Bayesian analysis based on a Galactic model indicates that, despite the complicated degeneracy, the surviving wide-orbit models all contain a super-Earth-mass to Neptune-mass planet at a projected planet-host separation of $\sim 6$ au and the surviving close-orbit models all consist of a Jovian-mass planet at $\sim 1$ au. The host star is probably an M or K dwarf. We discuss the implications of this dimension-degeneracy disaster on microlensing light-curve analysis and its potential impact on statistical studies., Comment: submitted to AJ

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 magnitude) and short-lived (5 hours) 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 of $q = (0.72 \pm 0.07) \times 10^{-4}$, and the single-lens binary-source (1L2S) model is excluded by $\Delta\chi^2 = 80$. A Bayesian analysis using a Galactic model yields estimates of the host star mass of $M_{\rm host} = 0.57^{+0.33}_{-0.29}~M_\odot$, the planetary mass of $M_{\rm planet} = 13.5_{-6.8}^{+8.1}~M_{\oplus}$, and the lens distance of $D_{\rm L} = 6.9_{-1.7}^{+0.8}$ kpc. The projected planet-host separation of $a_\perp = 2.3_{-0.5}^{+0.5}$ au or $a_\perp = 3.2_{-0.8}^{+0.7}$, 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., Comment: PASP submitted. arXiv admin note: text overlap with arXiv:2301.06779

We present the analysis of microlensing event OGLE-2014-BLG-0221, a planetary candidate event discovered in 2014. The photometric light curve is best described by a binary-lens single-source model. Our light curve modeling finds two degenerate models, with event timescales of $t_\mathrm{E}\sim70$ days and $\sim110$ days. These timescales are relatively long, indicating that the discovered system would possess a substantial mass. The two models are similar in their planetary parameters with a Jupiter mass ratio of $q \sim 10^{-3}$ and a separation of $s \sim 1.1$. While the shorter timescale model shows marginal detection of a microlensing parallax signal, the longer timescale model requires a higher order effect of microlensing parallax, lens orbital motion or xallarap to explain the deviation in the light curve. However, the modeling shows significant correlation between the higher order effects and suffers the ecliptic degeneracy that results in a failure to determine the parallax parameters. Bayesian inference is used to estimate the physical parameters of the lens, revealing the lens to be either a late-type star supported by the shorter timescale model or a stellar remnant supported by the longer timescale model. If the lens is a remnant, this would be the second planet found by microlensing around a stellar remnant. Since the models predict different values for relative proper motion and source flux, future high angular resolution follow-up observations (e.g. Keck adaptive optics) are required to rule out either of the models., Comment: 15 pages, 11 figures. Submitted to the AAS journals

We present an analysis of microlensing event OGLE-2019-BLG-0825. This event was identified as a planetary candidate by preliminary modeling. We find that significant residuals from the best-fit static binary-lens model exist and a xallarap effect can fit the residuals very well and significantly improves $\chi^2$ values. On the other hand, by including the xallarap effect in our models, we find that binary-lens parameters like mass-ratio, $q$, and separation, $s$, cannot be constrained well. However, we also find that the parameters for the source system like the orbital period and semi major axis are consistent between all the models we analyzed. We therefore constrain the properties of the source system better than the properties of the lens system. The source system comprises a G-type main-sequence star orbited by a brown dwarf with a period of $P\sim5$ days. This analysis is the first to demonstrate that the xallarap effect does affect binary-lens parameters in planetary events. It would not be common for the presence or absence of the xallarap effect to affect lens parameters in events with long orbital periods of the source system or events with transits to caustics, but in other cases, such as this event, the xallarap effect can affect binary-lens parameters., Comment: 19 pages, 7 figures, 6 tables. Accepted by AJ

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. These $buried$ planets 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., Comment: 38 pages, 17 figures, 12 Tables, submitted to the AAS journal

We report the analysis of microlensing event OGLE-2017-BLG-1038, observed by the Optical Gravitational Lensing Experiment, Korean Microlensing Telescope Network, and Spitzer telescopes. The event is caused by a giant source star in the Galactic Bulge passing over a large resonant binary lens caustic. The availability of space-based data allows the full set of physical parameters to be calculated. However, there exists an eightfold degeneracy in the parallax measurement. The four best solutions correspond to very-low-mass binaries near ($M_1 = 170^{+40}_{-50} M_J$ and $M_2 = 110^{+20}_{-30} M_J$), or well below ($M_1 = 22.5^{+0.7}_{-0.4} M_J$ and $M_2 = 13.3^{+0.4}_{-0.3} M_J$) the boundary between stars and brown dwarfs. A conventional analysis, with scaled uncertainties for Spitzer data, implies a very-low-mass brown dwarf binary lens at a distance of 2 kpc. Compensating for systematic Spitzer errors using a Gaussian process model suggests that a higher mass M-dwarf binary at 6 kpc is equally likely. A Bayesian comparison based on a galactic model favors the larger-mass solutions. We demonstrate how this degeneracy can be resolved within the next ten years through infrared adaptive-optics imaging with a 40 m class telescope., Comment: 20 pages, 11 figures, 4 tables

We conduct a systematic investigation of the microlensing data collected during the previous observation seasons for the purpose of reanalyzing anomalous lensing events with no suggested plausible models. We find that two anomalous lensing events OGLE-2018-BLG-0584 and KMT-2018-BLG-2119 cannot be explained with the usual models based on either a binary-lens single-source (2L1S) or a single-lens binary-source (1L2S) interpretation. We test the feasibility of explaining the light curves with more sophisticated models by adding an extra lens (3L1S model) or a source (2L2S model) component to the 2L1S lens-system configuration. We find that a 2L2S interpretation well explains the light curves of both events, for each of which there are a pair of solutions resulting from the close and wide degeneracy. For the event OGLE-2018-BLG-0584, the source is a binary composed of two K-type stars, and the lens is a binary composed of two M dwarfs. For KMT-2018-BLG-2119, the source is a binary composed of two dwarfs of G and K spectral types, and the lens is a binary composed of a low-mass M dwarf and a brown dwarf., Comment: 9 pages, 9 figures

We study the three-dimensional structure of the Milky Way using 65,981 Mira variable stars discovered by the Optical Gravitational Lensing Experiment (OGLE) survey. The spatial distribution of the Mira stars is analyzed with a model containing three barred components that include the X-shaped boxy component in the Galactic center (GC), and an axisymmetric disk. We take into account the distance uncertainties by implementing the Bayesian hierarchical inference method. The distance to the GC is $R_0 = 7.66 \pm 0.01 \mathrm{(stat.)} \pm 0.39 \mathrm{(sys.)}$ kpc, while the inclination of the major axis of the bulge to the Sun-GC line-of-sight is $\theta = 20.2^\circ \pm 0.6^\circ \mathrm{(stat.)} \pm 0.7^\circ \mathrm{(sys.)} $. We present, for the first time, a detailed three-dimensional map of the Milky Way composed of young and intermediate-age stellar populations. Our analysis provides independent evidence for both the X-shaped bulge component and the flaring disk (being plausibly warped). We provide the complete dataset of properties of Miras that were used for calculations in this work. The table includes: mean brightness and amplitudes in nine photometric bands (covering a range of wavelength from 0.5 to 12 $\mu$m), photometric chemical type, estimated extinction, and calculated distance with its uncertainty for each Mira variable. The median distance accuracy to a Mira star is at the level of $6.6\%$., Comment: Accepted for publication in The Astrophysical Journal Supplement Series. 22 pages, 7 figures, 2 tables. The full machine readable Table 1 and corner plot are available through the OGLE website via https://www.astrouw.edu.pl/ogle/ogle4/MILKY_WAY_3D_MAP/, and Zenodo via https://doi.org/10.5281/zenodo.7472598

We present the analysis of seven microlensing planetary events with planet/host mass ratios $q < 10^{-4}$: KMT-2017-BLG-1194, KMT-2017-BLG-0428, KMT-2019-BLG-1806, KMT-2017-BLG-1003, KMT-2019-BLG-1367, OGLE-2017-BLG-1806, and KMT-2016-BLG-1105. They were identified by applying the Korea Microlensing Telescope Network (KMTNet) AnomalyFinder algorithm to 2016--2019 KMTNet events. A Bayesian analysis indicates that all the lens systems consist of a cold super-Earth orbiting an M or K dwarf. Together with 17 previously published and three that will be published elsewhere, AnomalyFinder has found a total of 27 planets that have solutions with $q < 10^{-4}$ from 2016--2019 KMTNet events, which lays the foundation for the first statistical analysis of the planetary mass-ratio function based on KMTNet data. By reviewing the 27 planets, we find that the missing planetary caustics problem in the KMTNet planetary sample has been solved by AnomalyFinder. We also find a desert of high-magnification planetary signals ($A \gtrsim 65$), and a follow-up project for KMTNet high-magnification events could detect at least two more $q < 10^{-4}$ planets per year and form an independent statistical sample., Comment: AJ in press

Stellar-mass black holes are the final remnants of stars born with more than 15 solar masses. Billions are expected to reside in the Local Group, yet only few are known, mostly detected through X-rays emitted as they accrete material from a companion star. Here, we report on VFTS 243: a massive X-ray faint binary in the Large Magellanic Cloud. With an orbital period of 10.4-d, it comprises an O-type star of 25 solar masses and an unseen companion of at least nine solar masses. Our spectral analysis excludes a non-degenerate companion at a 5-sigma confidence level. The minimum companion mass implies that it is a black hole. No other X-ray quiet black hole is unambiguously known outside our Galaxy. The (near-)circular orbit and kinematics of VFTS 243 imply that the collapse of the progenitor into a black hole was associated with little or no ejected material or black-hole kick. Identifying such unique binaries substantially impacts the predicted rates of gravitational-wave detections and properties of core-collapse supernovae across the Cosmos., Comment: Accepted to Nature Astronomy, 64 pages, 15 figures, 2 tables; ESO press release: https://www.eso.org/public/news/eso2210/; Nat Asr paper URL: https://www.nature.com/articles/s41550-022-01730-y

With the aim of finding short-term planetary signals, we investigated the data collected from the high-cadence microlensing surveys. 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. It is found that three of the planetary systems have mass ratios of the order of $10^{-4}$ and the other has a mass ratio slightly greater than $10^{-3}$. 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 $\sim 0.10$, $\sim 0.38$, and $\sim 0.12$ times of 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, $M_{\rm host}\sim 0.08~M_\odot$, 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 $\sim [0.3$--$0.6]~M_\odot$. The discoveries of the planets well demonstrate the capability of the current high-cadence microlensing surveys in detecting low-mass planets., Comment: 12 pages, 12 figures, 9 tables

We report the discovery and analysis of a candidate triple-lens single-source (3L1S) microlensing event, OGLE-2019-BLG-1470. This event was first classified as a normal binary-lens single-source (2L1S) event, but a careful 2L1S modelling showed that it needs an additional lens or source to fit the observed data. It is found that the 3L1S model provides the best fit, but the binary-lens binary-source (2L2S) model is only disfavoured by $\Delta\chi^2 \simeq 18$. All of the feasible models include a planet with planet-to-host mass-ratios $10^{-3} \lesssim q \lesssim 10^{-2}$. A Bayesian analysis based on a Galactic model indicates that the planet is super-Jovian, and the projected host-planet separation is about 3 $\mathrm{au}$. Specifically, for the best-fit 3L1S model, the two stars have masses of $M_1=0.57^{+0.43}_{-0.32}M_{\odot}$, and $M_2=0.18^{+0.15}_{-0.10}M_{\odot}$, with projected separation of $1.3^{+0.5}_{-0.5}$ $\mathrm{au}$, and the planetary mass is $M_3=2.2^{+1.8}_{-1.3}M_{\rm{Jupiter}}$. For the 2L2S model, the masses of the host star and the planet are $0.55^{+0.44}_{-0.31}M_{\odot}$ and $4.6^{+3.7}_{-2.6}M_{\rm{Jupiter}}$, respectively. By investigating the properties of all known microlensing planets in binary systems, we find that all planets in binary systems published by the KMTNet survey are located inside the resonant caustics range with $q \gtrsim 2 \times 10^{-3}$, indicating the incompleteness of the KMTNet sample for planets in binary systems. Thus, planets in binary systems cannot be included in the current study of the KMTNet mass-ratio function, and a systematic search for planetary anomalies in KMTNet microlensing light curves of binary systems is needed., Comment: 17 pages, 14 figures, published in MNRAS

We report the complete statistical planetary sample from the prime fields ($\Gamma \geq 2~{\rm hr}^{-1}$) 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 14 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 $6.34 \times 10^{-4}, 4.89 \times 10^{-3}$ and $6.18 \times 10^{-4}$, 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 $q_{\rm break} = 1.7 \times 10^{-4}$ 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., Comment: Accepted by MNRAS

We present a collection of 65,981 Mira-type variable stars found in the Optical Gravitational Lensing Experiment (OGLE) project database. Two-thirds of our sample (40,356 objects) are located in the Galactic bulge fields, whereas 25,625 stars are in the Galactic disk. The vast majority of the collection (47,532 objects) are new discoveries. We provide basic observational parameters of the Mira variables: equatorial coordinates, pulsation periods, $I$-band and $V$-band mean magnitudes, $I$-band brightness amplitudes, and identifications in other catalogs of variable stars. We also provide the $I$-band and $V$-band time-series photometry collected since 1997 during the OGLE-II, OGLE-III, and OGLE-IV phases. The classical selection process, i.e., mostly based on the visual inspection of light curves by experienced astronomers, led us to the high purity of the catalog. As a result, this collection can be used as a training set in the machine learning classification algorithms. Using overlapping parts of adjacent OGLE fields, we estimate the completeness of the catalog to be about 96%. We compare and discuss the statistical features of Miras located in different regions of the Milky Way. We show examples of stars that change their type over time, from a semi-regular variable to Mira and vice versa. This dataset is perfectly suited to study the three-dimensional structure of the Milky Way, and it may help to explain the puzzle of the X-shaped bulge., Comment: Accepted for publication in The Astrophysical Journal Supplement Series. 18 pages, 8 figures, 3 tables. The OGLE Collection of Miras in the Milky Way is publicly available through http://www.astrouw.edu.pl/ogle/ogle4/OCVS/blg/lpv/ for Miras located in the Galactic bulge fields, and http://www.astrouw.edu.pl/ogle/ogle4/OCVS/gd/lpv/ for Miras located in the Galactic disk fields

Only a few wide-orbit planets around old stars have been detected, which limits our statistical understanding of this planet population. Following the systematic search for planetary anomalies in microlensing events found by the Korea Microlensing Telescope Network (KMTNet), we present the discovery and analysis of three events that were initially thought to contain wide-orbit planets. The anomalous feature in the light curve of OGLE-2018-BLG-0383 is caused by a planet with mass ratio $q=2.1\times 10^{-4}$ and a projected separation $s=2.45$. This makes it the lowest mass-ratio microlensing planet at such wide orbits. The other two events, KMT-2018-BLG-0998 and OGLE-2018-BLG-0271, are shown to be stellar binaries ($q>0.1$) with rather close ($s<1$) separations. We briefly discuss the properties of known wide-orbit microlensing planets and show that the survey observations are crucial in discovering and further statistically constraining such a planet population., Comment: Accepted by MNRAS

With the aim of interpreting anomalous lensing events with no suggested models, we conducted a project of reinvestigating microlensing data in and before the 2019 season. In this work, we report a multi-planet system OGLE-2019-BLG-0468L found from the project. 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 interpretation. We find a solution explaining 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. The two planets have masses $\sim 3.4~M_{\rm J}$ and $\sim 10.2~M_{\rm J}$, and they are orbiting around a G-type star with a mass $\sim 0.9~M_\odot$ and a distance $\sim 4.4$ kpc. The host of the planets is most likely responsible for the light of the baseline object, although the possibility for the host to be a companion to the baseline object cannot be ruled out., Comment: 10 pages, 3 tables, 11 figures

We present a collection of 991 heartbeat star (HBS) candidates found in the Optical Gravitational Lensing Experiment (OGLE) project data archive. We discuss the selection process of the HBS candidates and the structure of the catalog itself. It consists of 512 stars located toward the Galactic bulge (GB), 439 stars located in the Large Magellanic Cloud (LMC), and 40 in the Small Magellanic Cloud (SMC). The collection contains two large groups of HBSs with different physical properties. The main distinction between the two groups is the evolutionary status of the primary star. The first group of about 100 systems contains a hot main-sequence (MS) or a Hertzsprung-gap primary star, while the second group of about 900 systems includes a red giant (RG). For each star, we provide two-decade-long time-series photometry, in the Cousins $I$- and Johnson $V$-band filters, obtained by the OGLE project. We also present basic observational information as well as orbital parameters derived from the light curve modeling., Comment: 13 pages (17 pages in arXiv version), 11 figures, 5 tables. The full machine-readable tables are provided by the publisher. The catalog is available via OGLE website: https://astrouw.edu.pl/ogle/ogle4/OCVS/. Erratum; in the publisher version of the paper, there are wrong reference numbers to the figures from Paper II: Figures 8--9 --> Figures 9--10, Figure 10 --> Figure 11, Figure 11 --> Figure 12

We conducted a project of reinvestigating the 2017--2019 microlensing data collected by the 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. The project led us to find three planets including KMT-2017-BLG-2509Lb, OGLE-2017-BLG-1099Lb, and OGLE-2019-BLG-0299Lb. The lensing light curves of the events have a common characteristic that 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. 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 $0.45\lesssim M/M_\odot \lesssim 0.59$, 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 $2.1\lesssim M/M_{\rm J}\lesssim 6.2$, 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 other microlensing planetary systems, support 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., Comment: 10 pages, 13 figures, 6 tables

We analyze the microlensing event OGLE-2019-BLG-0304, whose light curve exhibits two distinctive features: a deviation in the peak region and a second bump appearing $\sim 61$~days after the main peak. Although a binary-lens model can explain the overall features, it leaves subtle but noticeable residuals in the peak region. We find that the residuals can be explained by the presence of either a planetary companion located close to the primary of the binary lens (3L1S model) or an additional close companion to the source (2L2S model). Although the 3L1S model is favored over the 2L2S model, with $\Delta\chi^2\sim 8$, securely resolving the degeneracy between the two models is difficult with the currently available photometric data. According to the 3L1S interpretation, the lens is a planetary system, in which a planet with a mass $0.51^{+0.51}_{-0.23}~M_{\rm J}$ is in an S-type orbit around a binary composed of stars with masses $0.27^{+0.27}_{-0.12}~M_\odot$ and $0.10^{+0.10}_{-0.04}~M_\odot$. According to the 2L2S interpretation, on the other hand, the source is composed of G- and K-type giant stars, and the lens is composed of a low-mass M dwarf and a brown dwarf with masses $0.12^{+0.12}_{-0.05}~M_\odot$ and $0.045^{+0.045}_{-.019}~M_\odot$, respectively. The event illustrates the need for through model testing in the interpretation of lensing events with complex features in light curves., Comment: 11 pages, 3 tables, 11 figures

APOGEE is a high-resolution (R sim 22,000), near-infrared, multi-epoch, spectroscopic survey of the Milky Way. The second generation of the APOGEE project, APOGEE-2, includes an expansion of the survey to the Southern Hemisphere called APOGEE-2S. This expansion enabled APOGEE to perform a fully panoramic mapping of all the main regions of the Milky Way; in particular, by operating in the H-band, APOGEE is uniquely able to probe the dust-hidden inner regions of the Milky Way that are best accessed from the Southern Hemisphere. In this paper we present the targeting strategy of APOGEE-2S, with special attention to documenting modifications to the original, previously published plan. The motivation for these changes is explained as well as an assessment of their effectiveness in achieving their intended scientific objective. In anticipation of this being the last paper detailing APOGEE targeting, we present an accounting of all such information complete through the end of the APOGEE-2S project; this includes several main survey programs dedicated to exploration of major stellar populations and regions of the Milky Way, as well as a full list of programs contributing to the APOGEE database through allocations of observing time by the Chilean National Time Allocation Committee (CNTAC) and the Carnegie Institution for Science (CIS). This work was presented along with a companion article, R. Beaton et al. (submitted; AAS29028), presenting the final target selection strategy adopted for APOGEE-2 in the Northern Hemisphere., Comment: 43 pages; 5 figures; 6 Tables; 1 Appendix; Submitted to Journal and Under Review; Posting to accompany papers using the SDSS-IV/APOGEE-2 Data Release 17 scheduled for December 2021

We comprehensively study the variability of Miras in the Large Magellanic Cloud (LMC) by simultaneous analysing light curves in 14 bands in the range of 0.5$-$24 microns. We model over 20-years-long, high cadence $I$-band light curves collected by The Optical Gravitational Lensing Experiment (OGLE) and fit them to light curves collected in the remaining optical/near-infrared/mid-infrared bands to derive both the variability amplitude ratio and phase-lag as a function of wavelength. We show that the variability amplitude ratio declines with the increasing wavelength for both oxygen-rich (O-rich) and carbon-rich (C-rich) Miras, while the variability phase-lag increases slightly with the increasing wavelength. In a significant number of Miras, mostly the C-rich ones, the spectral energy distributions (SEDs) require a presence of a cool component (dust) in order to match the mid-IR data. Based on SED fits for a golden sample of 140 Miras, we calculated synthetic period-luminosity relations (PLRs) in 42 bands for the existing and future sky surveys that include OGLE, The VISTA Near-Infrared $YJK_\mathrm{s}$ Survey of the Magellanic Clouds System (VMC), Legacy Survey of Space and Time (LSST), Gaia, Spitzer, The Wide-field Infrared Survey Explorer (WISE), The James Webb Space Telescope (JWST), The Nancy Grace Roman Space Telescope (formerly WFIRST), and The Hubble Space Telescope (HST). We show that the synthetic PLR slope decreases with increasing wavelength for both the O-rich and C-rich Miras in the range of 0.1$-$40 microns. Finally, we show the location and motions of Miras on the color-magnitude (CMD) and color-color (CCD) diagrams., Comment: Accepted for publication in The Astrophysical Journal Supplement Series. 27 pages, 16 figures, 7 tables. The full machine readable tables will be available in the online journal just after publication

Kepler mission is a powerful tool in the study the different types of astrophysical objects or events in the distant Universe. However, the spacecraft gives also the opportunity to study Solar System objects passing in the telescope field of view. The aim of this paper is to determine for the first time the rotation periods of a number of asteroids observed by the Kepler satellite during the K2 Campaign 9. Using publicly available data from Kepler mission we have used the Modified Causal Pixel Model (MCPM) code to perform the aperture-like and PRF-like photometry of 1026 asteroids. The results allowed us to determine the rotation periods for 188 asteroids. For asteroids with rotation periods previously measured, we compared the results and found very good agreement. There are additional 20 asteroids for which we obtained lower limits on rotation periods and in all cases these limits are at least 100 h., Comment: 24 pages, 8 figures, submitted to ApJS

We search for microlensing planets with signals exhibiting no caustic-crossing features, considering the possibility that such signals may be missed due to their weak and featureless nature. For this purpose, we reexamine the lensing events found by the KMTNet survey before the 2019 season. From this investigation, we find two new planetary lensing events, KMT-2018-BLG-1976 and KMT-2018-BLG-1996. We also present the analysis of the planetary event OGLE-2019-BLG-0954, for which the planetary signal was known, but no detailed analysis has been presented before. We identify the genuineness of the planetary signals by checking various interpretations that can generate short-term anomalies in lensing light curves. From Bayesian analyses conducted with the constraint from available observables, we find that the host and planet masses are $(M_1, M_2)\sim (0.65~M_\odot, 2~M_{\rm J})$ for KMT-2018-BLG-1976L, $\sim (0.69~M_\odot, 1~M_{\rm J})$ for KMT-2018-BLG-1996L, and $\sim (0.80~M_\odot, 14~M_{\rm J})$ for OGLE-2019-BLG-0954L. The estimated distance to OGLE-2019-BLG-0954L, $3.63^{+1.22}_{-1.64}$~kpc, indicates that it is located in the disk, and the brightness expected from the mass and distance matches well the brightness of the blend, indicating that the lens accounts for most of the blended flux. The lens of OGLE-2019-BLG-0954 could be resolved from the source by conducting high-resolution follow-up observations in and after 2024., Comment: 11 pages, 14 figures

We aim to find missing microlensing planets hidden in the unanalyzed lensing events of previous survey data. For this purpose, we conduct a systematic inspection of high-magnification microlensing events, with peak magnifications $A_{\rm peak}\gtrsim 30$, in the data collected from high-cadence surveys in and before the 2018 season. From this investigation, we identify an anomaly in the lensing light curve of the event KMT-2018-BLG-1025. The analysis of the light curve indicates that the anomaly is caused by a very low mass-ratio companion to the lens. We identify three degenerate solutions, in which the ambiguity between a pair of solutions (solutions B) is caused by the previously known close--wide degeneracy, and the degeneracy between these and the other solution (solution A) is a new type that has not been reported before. The estimated mass ratio between the planet and host is $q\sim 0.8\times 10^{-4}$ for the solution A and $q\sim 1.6\times 10^{-4}$ for the solutions B. From the Bayesian analysis conducted with measured observables, we estimate that the masses of the planet and host and the distance to the lens are $(M_{\rm p}, M_{\rm h}, D_{\rm L})\sim (6.1~M_\oplus, 0.22~M_\odot, 6.7~{\rm kpc})$ for the solution A and $\sim (4.4~M_\oplus, 0.08~M_\odot, 7.5~{\rm kpc})$ for the solutions B. The planet mass is in the category of a super-Earth regardless of the solutions, making the planet the eleventh super-Earth planet, with masses lying between those of Earth and the Solar system's ice giants, discovered by microlensing., Comment: 10 pages, 10 figures, 5 tables

We report the analysis of OGLE-2019-BLG-0960, which contains the smallest mass-ratio microlensing planet found to date (q = 1.2--1.6 x 10^{-5} at 1-sigma). Although there is substantial uncertainty in the satellite parallax measured by Spitzer, the measurement of the annual parallax effect combined with the finite source effect allows us to determine the mass of the host star (M_L = 0.3--0.6 M_Sun), the mass of its planet (m_p = 1.4--3.1 M_Earth), the projected separation between the host and planet (a_perp = 1.2--2.3 au), and the distance to the lens system (D_L = 0.6--1.2 kpc). The lens is plausibly the blend, which could be checked with adaptive optics observations. As the smallest planet clearly below the break in the mass-ratio function (Suzuki et al. 2016; Jung et al. 2019), it demonstrates that current experiments are powerful enough to robustly measure the slope of the mass-ratio function below that break. We find that the cross-section for detecting small planets is maximized for planets with separations just outside of the boundary for resonant caustics and that sensitivity to such planets can be maximized by intensively monitoring events whenever they are magnified by a factor A > 5. Finally, an empirical investigation demonstrates that most planets showing a degeneracy between (s > 1) and (s < 1) solutions are not in the regime (|log s| >> 0) for which the "close"/"wide" degeneracy was derived. This investigation suggests a link between the "close"/"wide" and "inner/outer" degeneracies and also that the symmetry in the lens equation goes much deeper than symmetries uncovered for the limiting cases., Comment: 32 pages, 15 figures, 5 tables. Submitted to AAS Journals

We report the discovery and analysis of a planet in the microlensing event OGLE-2018-BLG-0799. The planetary signal was observed by several ground-based telescopes, and the planet-host mass ratio is $q = (2.65 \pm 0.16) \times 10^{-3}$. The ground-based observations yield a constraint on the angular Einstein radius $\theta_{\rm E}$, and the microlensing parallax vector $\vec{\pi}_{\rm E}$, is strongly constrained by the Spitzer data. However, the 2019 Spitzer baseline data reveal systematics in the Spitzer photometry, so there is ambiguity in the magnitude of the parallax. In our preferred interpretation, a full Bayesian analysis using a Galactic model indicates that the planetary system is composed of an $M_{\rm planet} = 0.26_{-0.11}^{+0.22}~M_{J}$ planet orbiting an $M_{\rm host} = 0.093_{-0.038}^{+0.082}~M_{\odot}$, at a distance of $D_{\rm L} = 3.71_{-1.70}^{+3.24}$ kpc. An alternate interpretation of the data shifts the localization of the minima along the arc-shaped microlens parallax constraints. This, in turn, yields a more massive host with median mass of $0.13 {M_{\odot}}$ at a distance of 6.3 kpc. This analysis demonstrates the robustness of the osculating circles formalism, but shows that further investigation is needed to assess how systematics affect the specific localization of the microlens parallax vector and, consequently, the inferred physical parameters., Comment: Published by MNRAS

Searches for gravitational microlensing events are traditionally concentrated on the central regions of the Galactic bulge but many microlensing events are expected to occur in the Galactic plane, far from the Galactic Center. Owing to the difficulty in conducting high-cadence observations of the Galactic plane over its vast area, which are necessary for the detection of microlensing events, their global properties were hitherto unknown. Here, we present results of the first comprehensive search for microlensing events in the Galactic plane. We searched an area of almost 3000 square degrees along the Galactic plane (|b|<7, 0

We analyze KMT-2019-BLG-1339, a microlensing event with an obvious but incompletely resolved brief anomaly feature around the peak of the light curve. Although the origin of the anomaly is identified to be a companion to the lens with a low mass ratio $q$, the interpretation is subject to two different degeneracy types. The first type is the ambiguity in $\rho$, representing the angular source radius scaled to the angular radius of the Einstein ring, $\theta_{\rm E}$, and the other is the $s\leftrightarrow s^{-1}$ degeneracy. The former type, `finite-source degeneracy', causes ambiguities in both $s$ and $q$, while the latter induces an ambiguity only in $s$. Here $s$ denotes the separation (in units of $\theta_{\rm E}$) in projection between the lens components. We estimate that the lens components have masses $(M_1, M_2)\sim (0.27^{+0.36}_{-0.15}~M_\odot, 11^{+16}_{-7}~M_{\rm J})$ and $\sim (0.48^{+0.40}_{-0.28}~M_\odot, 1.3^{+1.1}_{-0.7}~M_{\rm J})$ according to the two solutions subject to the finite-source degeneracy, indicating that the lens comprises an M dwarf and a companion with a mass around the planet/brown dwarf boundary or a Jovian-mass planet. It is possible to lift the finite-source degeneracy by conducting future observations utilizing a high resolution instrument because the relative lens-source proper motion predicted by the solutions are widely different., Comment: 8 pages, 6 figures

We report the discovery and the analysis of the short (tE < 5 days) planetary microlensing event, OGLE-2015-BLG-1771. The event was discovered by the Optical Gravitational Lensing Experiment (OGLE), and the planetary anomaly (at I ~ 19) was captured by The Korea Microlensing Telescope Network (KMTNet). The event has three surviving planetary models that explain the observed light curves, with planet-host mass ratio q \~ 5.4 * 10^{-3}, 4.5 * 10^{-3} and 4.5 * 10^{-2}, respectively. The first model is the best-fit model, while the second model is disfavored by \Delta\chi^2 ~ 3. The last model is strongly disfavored by \Delta\chi^2 ~ 15 but not ruled out. A Bayesian analysis using a Galactic model indicates that the first two models are probably composed of a Saturn-mass planet orbiting a late M dwarf, while the third one could consist of a super-Jovian planet and a mid-mass brown dwarf. The source-lens relative proper motion is mu_rel ~ 9 mas/yr, so the source and lens could be resolved by current adaptive-optics (AO) instruments in 2021 if the lens is luminous., Comment: 7 figures and 3 tables; submitted to AAS Journal

We report the discovery of an exoplanet in microlensing event OGLE-2015-BLG-1649. The planet/host-star mass ratio is $q =7.2 \times 10^{-3}$ and the projected separation normalized by the Einstein radius is $s = 0.9$. The upper limit of the lens flux is obtained from adaptive optics observations by IRCS/Subaru, which excludes the probability of a G-dwarf or more massive host star and helps to put a tighter constraint on the lens mass as well as commenting on the formation scenarios of giant planets orbiting low-mass stars. We conduct a Bayesian analysis including constraints on the lens flux to derive the probability distribution of the physical parameters of the lens system. We thereby find that the masses of the host star and planet are $M_{L} = 0.34 \pm 0.19 M_{\odot}$ and $M_{p} = 2.5^{+1.5}_{-1.4} M_{Jup}$, respectively. The distance to the system is $D_{L} = 4.23^{+1.51}_{-1.64}$kpc. The projected star-planet separation is $a_{\perp} = 2.07^{+0.65}_{-0.77}$AU. The lens-source relative proper motion of the event is quite high, at $\sim 7.1 \, {\rm mas/yr}$. Therefore, we may be able to determine the lens physical parameters uniquely or place much stronger constraints on them by measuring the color-dependent centroid shift and/or the image elongation with additional high resolution imaging already a few years from now., Comment: 24 pages, 5 figures, 3 tables. Accepted for publication in AJ

Supersoft X-ray sources are stellar objects which emit X-rays with temperatures of about 1 million Kelvin and luminosities well in excess of what can be produced by stellar coronae. It has generally been presumed that the objects in this class are binary star systems in which mass transfer leads to nuclear fusion on the surface of a white dwarf. Classical novae, the runaway fusion events on the surfaces of white dwarfs, generally have supersoft phases, and it is often stated that the bright steady supersoft X-ray sources seen from white dwarfs accreting mass at a high rate are undergoing steady nuclear fusion. In this letter, we report the discovery of a transient supersoft source in the Small Magellanic Cloud without any signature of nuclear fusion having taken place. This discovery indicates that the X-ray emission probably comes from a "spreading layer" - a belt on the surface of the white dwarf near the inner edge of the accretion disk in which a large fraction of the total accretion energy is emitted - and (albeit more tentatively) that the accreting white dwarf is relatively massive. We thus establish that the presence of a supersoft source cannot always be used as a tracer of nuclear fusion, in contradiction with decades-old consensus about the nature of supersoft emission., Comment: 15 pages, 4 figures, published in Nature Astronomy

We report the mass and distance measurements of two single-lens events from the 2017 Spitzer microlensing campaign. The ground-based observations yield the detection of finite-source effects, and the microlens parallaxes are derived from the joint analysis of ground-based observations and Spitzer observations. We find that the lens of OGLE-2017-BLG-1254 is a $0.60 \pm 0.03 M_{\odot}$ star with $D_{\rm LS} = 0.53 \pm 0.11~\text{kpc}$, where $D_{\rm LS}$ is the distance between the lens and the source. The second event, OGLE-2017-BLG-1161, is subject to the known satellite parallax degeneracy, and thus is either a $0.51^{+0.12}_{-0.10} M_{\odot}$ star with $D_{\rm LS} = 0.40 \pm 0.12~\text{kpc}$ or a $0.38^{+0.13}_{-0.12} M_{\odot}$ star with $D_{\rm LS} = 0.53 \pm 0.19~\text{kpc}$. Both of the lenses are therefore isolated stars in the Galactic bulge. By comparing the mass and distance distributions of the eight published Spitzer finite-source events with the expectations from a Galactic model, we find that the Spitzer sample is in agreement with the probability of finite-source effects occurrence in single lens events., Comment: 16 pages, 6 Figures. Submitted to AAS journal

We present the analysis of the event OGLE-2017-BLG-1186 from the 2017 Spitzer microlensing campaign. This is a remarkable microlensing event because its source is photometrically bright and variable, which makes it possible to perform an asteroseismic analysis using ground-based data. We find that the source star is an oscillating red giant with average timescale of $\sim 9$ d. The asteroseismic analysis also provides us source properties including the source angular size ($\sim 27~\mu{\rm as}$) and distance ($\sim 11.5$ kpc), which are essential for inferring the properties of the lens. When fitting the light curve, we test the feasibility of Gaussian Processes (GPs) in handling the correlated noise caused by the variable source. We find that the parameters from the GP model are generally more loosely constrained than those from the traditional $\chi^2$ minimization method. We note that this event is the first microlensing system for which asteroseismology and GPs have been used to account for the variable source. With both finite-source effect and microlens parallax measured, we find that the lens is likely a $\sim 0.045~M_{\odot}$ brown dwarf at distance $\sim 9.0$ kpc, or a $\sim 0.073~M_{\odot}$ ultracool dwarf at distance $\sim 9.8$ kpc. Combining the estimated lens properties with a Bayesian analysis using a Galactic model, we find a $\sim 35$ per cent probability for the lens to be a bulge object and $\sim 65$ per cent to be a background disc object., Comment: 18 pages, 4 figures, 5 tables. Revised to match version published in MNRAS

The Wide Field Infrared Survey Telescope (WFIRST) will monitor $\sim 2$ deg$^2$ toward the Galactic bulge in a wide ($\sim 1-2~\mu$m) W149 filter at 15-minute cadence with exposure times of $\sim$50s for 6 seasons of 72 days each, for a total $\sim$41,000 exposures taken over $\sim$432 days, spread over the 5-year prime mission. This will be one of the deepest exposures of the sky ever taken, reaching a photon-noise photometric precision of 0.01 mag per exposure and collecting a total of $\sim 10^9$ photons over the course of the survey for a W149$_{\rm AB}\sim 21$ star. Of order $4 \times 10^7$ stars will be monitored with W149$_{\rm AB}$<21, and 10$^8$ stars with W145$_{\rm AB}$<23. The WFIRST microlensing survey will detect $\sim$54,000 microlensing events, of which roughly 1% ($\sim$500) will be due to isolated black holes, and $\sim$3% ($\sim$1600) will be due to isolated neutron stars. It will be sensitive to (effectively) isolated compact objects with masses as low as the mass of Pluto, thereby enabling a measurement of the compact object mass function over 10 orders of magnitude. Assuming photon-noise limited precision, it will detect $\sim 10^5$ transiting planets with sizes as small as $\sim 2~R_\oplus$, perform asteroseismology of $\sim 10^6$ giant stars, measure the proper motions to $\sim 0.3\%$ and parallaxes to $\sim 10\%$ for the $\sim 6 \times 10^6$ disk and bulge stars in the survey area, and directly detect $\sim 5 \times 10^3$ Trans-Neptunian objects (TNOs) with diameters down to $\sim 10$ km, as well as detect $\sim 10^3$ occulations of stars by TNOs during the survey. All of this science will completely serendipitous, i.e., it will not require modifications of the WFIRST optimal microlensing survey design. Allowing for some minor deviation from the optimal design, such as monitoring the Galactic center, would enable an even broader range of transformational science., Comment: 9 pages, 3 figures, submitted to the Astro2020 Science White Paper call. This white paper draws heavily from Chapter 2.5 of Spergel et al. 2015 (arXiv:1503.03757), which was written by the lead author of this white paper

[abridged] WFIRST is uniquely capable of finding planets with masses as small as Mars at separations comparable to Jupiter, i.e., beyond the current ice lines of their stars. These planets fall between the close-in planets found by Kepler and the wide separation gas giants seen by direct imaging and ice giants inferred from ALMA observations. Furthermore, the smallest planets WFIRST can detect are smaller than the planets probed by RV and Gaia at comparable separations. Interpreting planet populations to infer the underlying formation and evolutionary processes requires combining results from multiple detection methods to measure the full variation of planets as a function of planet size, orbital separation, and host star mass. Microlensing is the only way to find planets from 0.5 to 5M_E at 1 to 5au. The case for a microlensing survey from space has not changed in the past 20 yrs: space allows wide-field diffraction-limited observations that resolve main-sequence stars in the bulge, which allows the detection and characterization of the smallest signals including those from planets with masses at least as small as Mars. What has changed is that ground-based (GB) microlensing is reaching its limits, underscoring the scientific necessity for a space-based survey. GB microlensing has found a break in the mass-ratio distribution at about a Neptune, implying that these are the most common microlensing planet and that planets smaller than this are rare. However, GB microlensing reaches its detection limits only slightly below the observed break. WFIRST will measure the shape of the mass-ratio function below the break by finding numerous smaller planets: 500 Neptunes, 600 gas giants, 200 Earths, and planets as small as 0.1M_E. Because it will also measure host masses and distances, WFIRST will also track the behavior of the planet distribution as a function of separation and host star mass., Comment: Science White Paper submitted to the Astro2020 Decadal Survey, 8 pages, 2 figures

Microlensing is the only method that can detect and measure mass of wide orbit, low mass, solar system analog exoplanets. Mass measurements of such planets would yield massive science on planet formation, exoplanet demographics, free floating planets, planet frequencies towards the galaxy. High res follow-up observations of past microlens targets provide a mass measurement of microlens planets and hosts at an uncertainty of <20%. This will be primary method for mass measurement with WFIRST. We advocate for the fact that high resolution observations with AO, HST and JWST(in future) remain necessary in coming decade to develop the methods, to determine the field and filter selection, understand the systematics and to develop a robust pipeline to release high quality data products from WFIRST microlensing survey such that the astronomy community can promptly engage in the science. We also support future high res obs with US ELTs with advanced Laser AO systems in context of enhancing the science return of WFIRST microlensing survey. We endorse the 2018 Exoplanet Science Strategy report published by the National Academy. This white paper extends and complements the material presented therein. In particular, this white paper supports the recommendation of the National Academy Exoplanet Science Strategy report that: NASA should launch WFIRST to conduct its microlensing survey of distant planets and to demonstrate the technique of coronagraphic spectroscopy on exoplanet targets. This white paper also supports to the finding from that report which states "A number of activities, including precursor and concurrent observations using ground- and space-based facilities, would optimize the scientific yield of the WFIRST microlensing survey.", Comment: 8 pages, 2 figures, Astro2020 decadal submission

We present the analysis of the microlensing event OGLE-2015-BLG-1670, detected in a high-extinction field, very close to the Galactic plane. Due to the dust extinction along the line of sight, this event was too faint to be detected before it reached the peak of magnification. The microlensing light-curve models indicate a high-magnification event with a maximum of $A_\mathrm{max}\gtrsim200$, very sensitive to planetary deviations. An anomaly in the light curve has been densely observed by the microlensing surveys MOA, KMTNet, and OGLE. From the light-curve modeling, we find a planetary anomaly characterized by a planet-to-host mass ratio, $q=\left(1.00^{+0.18}_{-0.16}\right)\times 10^{-4}$, at the peak recently identified in the mass-ratio function of microlensing planets. Thus, this event is interesting to include in future statistical studies about planet demography. We have explored the possible degeneracies and find two competing planetary models resulting from the $s\leftrightarrow1/s$ degeneracy. However, because the projected separation is very close to $s=1$, the physical implications for the planet for the two solutions are quite similar, except for the value of $s$. By combining the light-curve parameters with a Galactic model, we have estimated the planet mass $M_2=17.9^{+9.6}_{-8.8}\,\mathrm{M}_\oplus$ and the lens distance $D_\mathrm{L}=6.7^{+1.0}_{-1.3}\,\mathrm{kpc}$, corresponding to a Neptune-mass planet close to the Galactic bulge. Such events with a low absolute latitude ($|b|\approx 1.1\,\mathrm{deg}$) are subject to both high extinction and more uncertain source distances, two factors that may affect the mass measurements in the provisional Wide Field Infrared Survey Telescope fields. More events are needed to investigate the potential trade-off between the higher lensing rate and the difficulty in measuring masses in these low-latitude fields., Comment: 30 pages, 8 figures, 5 tables. Typos corrected and section 3.2.3 added. Version accepted for publication in The Astronomical Journal

Upcoming LSST survey gives an unprecedented opportunity for studying populations of intrinsically faint objects using microlensing technique. Large field of view and aperture allow effective time-series observations of many stars in Galactic disk and bulge. Here, we combine Galactic models (for |b|<10 deg) and simulations of LSST observations to study how different observing strategies affect the number and properties of microlensing events detected by LSST. We predict that LSST will mostly observe long duration microlensing events due to the source stars with the averaged magnitude around 22 in r-band, rather than high-magnification events due to fainter source stars. In Galactic bulge fields, LSST should detect on the order of 400 microlensing events per square degree as compared to 15 in disk fields. Improving the cadence increases the number of detectable microlensing events, e.g., improving the cadence from 6 to 2 days approximately doubles the number of microlensing events throughout the Galaxy. According to the current LSST strategy, it will observe some fields 900 times during a 10-year survey with the average cadence of ~4-days (I) and other fields (mostly toward the Galactic disk) around 180 times during a 1-year survey only with the average 1-day cadence (II). We anticipate that the number of events corresponding to these strategies are 7900 and 34000, respectively. Toward similar lines of sight, LSST with the first observing strategy (I) will detect more and on average longer microlensing events than those observable with the second strategy. If LSST spends enough time observing near Galactic plane, then the large number of microlensing events will allow studying Galactic distribution of planets and finding isolated black holes among wealth of other science cases., Comment: Submitted to The Astrophysical Journal, 15 pages, 6 tables, 9 figures, comments are welcomed