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arXiv · 0803.4324

Recent Developments in Gravitational Microlensing

Andrew Gould
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Abstract

Twenty-one years after Bohdan's seminal paper launched the field of gravitational microlensing, it has radically diversified from a method narrowly focused on finding dark matter to a very general astronomical tool. Microlensing has now detected 12 planets, including several that are inaccessible by other search methods. It has resolved the surfaces of distant stars, served as a magnifying glass to take spectra of extremely faint objects, and revealed a number of surprising phenomena. I take a sweeping look at this remarkable technique, giving equal weight to its successes and to the tensions that are continuing to propel it forward.

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Andrew Gould. 2008-03-30. Recent Developments in Gravitational Microlensing. https://arxiv.org/abs/0803.4324

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