Year: 2016
Type: article
Abstract: Interferometric observations of microlensing events have the potential to provide unique constraints on the physical properties of the lensing systems. In this work, we first present a formalism that closely combines interferometric and microlensing observable quantities, which lead us to define an original microlensing (u, v) plane. We run simulations of long-baseline interferometric observations and photometric light curves to decide which observational strategy is required to obtain a precise measurement on vector Einstein radius. We finally perform a detailed analysis of the expected number of targets in the light of new microlensing surveys (2011+) which currently deliver 2000 alerts per year. We find that a few events are already at reach of long-baseline interferometers (CHARA, VLTI), and a rate of about six events per year is expected with a limiting magnitude of K ≃ 10. This number would increase by an order of magnitude by raising it to K ≃ 11. We thus expect that a new route for characterizing microlensing events will be opened by the upcoming generations of interferometers.
DOI: 10.1093/mnras/stw372
Authors: Arnaud Cassan, Clément Ranc
Language: English
Subfield: Astronomy and Astrophysics
Field: Physics and Astronomy
Domain: Physical Sciences
Open Access status: bronze
Funder: Université Pierre et Marie Curie
OpenAlex ID: W2296250049