Year: 1997
Type: article
Abstract: The recent suggestion that the microlensing events observed toward the Large Magellanic Cloud are due to an intervening Sgr-like dwarf galaxy is examined. A search for foreground RR Lyrae in the MACHO photometry database yields 20 stars whose distance distribution follow the expected halo density profile. Cepheid and red giant branch clump stars in the MACHO database are consistent with membership in the LMC. There is also no evidence in the literature for a distinct kinematic population, for intervening gas, or for the turnoff of such a hypothetical galaxy. We conclude that if the lenses are in a foreground galaxy, it must be a particularly dark galaxy.
Source: The Astrophysical Journal
DOI: 10.1086/311016
Authors: C. Alcock, R. A. Allsman, D. R. Alves, T. S. Axelrod, A. C. Becker, D. P. Bennett, K. H. Cook, K. C. Freeman, K. Griest, M. J. Lehner, S. L. Marshall, D. Minniti, B. A. Peterson, M. R. Pratt, P. J. Quinn, A. W. Rodgers, A. Rorabeck, C. W. Stubbs, W. Sutherland, A. B. Tomaney, T. Vandehei, D. L. Welch
Institutions: Lawrence Livermore National Laboratory, University of California, Berkeley, Australian National University, University of California, Davis, University of Washington, University of Notre Dame, University of California San Diego, University of California, Santa Barbara, European Southern Observatory, McMaster University, University of Oxford
Language: English
Subfield: Astronomy and Astrophysics
Field: Physics and Astronomy
Domain: Physical Sciences
Open Access status: bronze
OpenAlex ID: W2065137446