arXiv subjects

K. Masuda

Publications and source records attributed to K. Masuda.

At least 91 records · Page 5Linked to original sources

arXiv2014

OGLE-2008-BLG-355Lb: A Massive Planet around A Late type Star

We report the discovery of a massive planet OGLE-2008-BLG-355Lb. The light curve analysis indicates a planet:host mass ratio of q = 0.0118 +/- 0.0006 at a separation of 0.877 +/- 0.010 Einstein radii. We do not measure a significant microlensing parallax signal and do not have high angular resolution images that could detect the planetary host star. Therefore, we do not have a direct measurement of the host star mass. A Bayesian analysis, assuming that all host stars have equal probability to host a planet with the measured mass ratio implies a host star mass of M_h = 0.37_{-0.17}^{+0.30} M_Sun and a companion of mass M_P = 4.6^{+3.7}_{-2.2} M_Jup, at a projected separation of r_proj = 1.70^{+0.29}_{-0.30} AU. The implied distance to the planetary system is D_L = 6.8 +/- 1.1 kpc. A planetary system with the properties preferred by the Bayesian analysis would be a challenge to the core-accretion model of planet formation, as the core-accretion model predicts that massive planets are far more likely to form around more massive host stars. This core accretion model prediction is not consistent with our Bayesian prior of an equal probability of host stars of all masses to host a planet with the measured mass ratio. So, if the core accretion model prediction is right, we should expect that follow-up high angular resolution observations will detect a host star with a mass in the upper part of the range allowed by the Bayesian analysis. That is, the host would probably be a K or G dwarf.

astro-ph.EP↗

arXiv2014

Candidate Gravitational Microlensing Events for Future Direct Lens Imaging

The mass of the lenses giving rise to Galactic microlensing events can be constrained by measuring the relative lens-source proper motion and lens flux. The flux of the lens can be separated from that of the source, companions to the source, and unrelated nearby stars with high-resolution images taken when the lens and source are spatially resolved. For typical ground-based adaptive optics (AO) or space-based observations, this requires either inordinately long time baselines or high relative proper motions. We provide a list of microlensing events toward the Galactic Bulge with high relative lens-source proper motion that are therefore good candidates for constraining the lens mass with future high-resolution imaging. We investigate all events from 2004 -- 2013 that display detectable finite-source effects, a feature that allows us to measure the proper motion. In total, we present 20 events with mu >~ 8 mas/yr. Of these, 14 were culled from previous analyses while 6 are new, including OGLE-2004-BLG-368, MOA-2005-BLG-36, OGLE-2012-BLG-0211, OGLE-2012-BLG-0456, MOA-2012-BLG-532, and MOA-2013-BLG-029. In <~12 years the lens and source of each event will be sufficiently separated for ground-based telescopes with AO systems or space telescopes to resolve each component and further characterize the lens system. Furthermore, for the most recent events, comparison of the lens flux estimates from images taken immediately to those estimated from images taken when the lens and source are resolved can be used to empirically check the robustness of the single-epoch method currently being used to estimate lens masses for many events.

astro-ph.SR↗

arXiv2013

MOA-2011-BLG-322Lb: a "second generation survey" microlensing planet

Global "second-generation" microlensing surveys aim to discover and characterize extrasolar planets and their frequency, by means of round-the-clock high-cadence monitoring of a large area of the Galactic bulge, in a controlled experiment. We report the discovery of a giant planet in microlensing event MOA-2011-BLG-322. This moderate-magnification event, which displays a clear anomaly induced by a second lensing mass, was inside the footprint of our second-generation microlensing survey, involving MOA, OGLE and the Wise Observatory. The event was observed by the survey groups, without prompting alerts that could have led to dedicated follow-up observations. Fitting a microlensing model to the data, we find that the timescale of the event was t_E=23.2 +/-0.8 days, and the mass ratio between the lens star and its companion is q=0.028 +/-0.001. Finite-source effects are marginally detected, and upper limits on them help break some of the degeneracy in the system parameters. Using a Bayesian analysis that incorporates a Galactic structure model, we estimate the mass of the lens at 0.39 +0.45/-0.19 M_sun, at a distance of 7.56 +/-0.91 kpc. Thus, the companion is likely a planet of mass 11.6 +13.4/-5.6 M_J, at a projected separation of 4.3 +1.5/-1.2 AU, rather far beyond the snow line. This is the first pure-survey planet reported from a second-generation microlensing survey, and shows that survey data alone can be sufficient to characterize a planetary model. With the detection of additional survey-only planets, we will be able to constrain the frequency of extrasolar planets near their systems' snow lines.

astro-ph.EP↗

arXiv2013

The performance of the LHCf detector for hadronic showers

The Large Hadron Collider forward (LHCf) experiment has been designed to use the LHC to benchmark the hadronic interaction models used in cosmic-ray physics. The LHCf experiment measures neutral particles emitted in the very forward region of LHC collisions. In this paper, the performances of the LHCf detectors for hadronic showers was studied with MC simulations and beam tests. The detection efficiency for neutrons is from 60% to 70% above 500 GeV. The energy resolutions are about 40% and the position resolution is 0.1 to 1.3mm depend on the incident energy for neutrons. The energy scale determined by the MC simulations and the validity of the MC simulations were examined using 350 GeV proton beams at the CERN-SPS.

physics.ins-det↗

arXiv2013

MOA-2008-BLG-379Lb: A Massive Planet from a High Magnification Event with a Faint Source

We report analysis of high microlensing event MOA-2008-BLG-379, which has a strong microlensing anomaly at its peak, due to a massive planet with a mass ratio of q = 6.9 x 10^{-3}. Because the faint source star crosses the large resonant caustic, the planetary signal dominates the light curve. This is unusual for planetary microlensing events, and as a result, the planetary nature of this light curve was not immediately noticed. The planetary nature of the event was found when the MOA Collaboration conducted a systematic study of binary microlensing events previously identified by the MOA alert system. We have conducted a Bayesian analysis based on a standard Galactic model to estimate the physical parameters of the lens system. This yields a host star mass of M_L = 0.66_{-0.33}^{+0.29} M_Sun orbited by a planet of mass m_P = 4.8_{-2.4}^{+2.1} M_Jup at an orbital separation of a = 4.1_{-1.5}^{+1.9} AU at a distance of D_L = 3.6 +/- 1.3 kpc. The faint source magnitude of I_S = 21.30 and relatively high lens-source relative proper motion of mu_rel = 7.6 +/- 1.6 mas/yr implies that high angular resolution adaptive optics or Hubble Space Telescope observations are likely to be able to detect the source star, which would determine the masses and distance of the planet and its host star.

astro-ph.EP↗

arXiv2013

A Sub-Earth-Mass Moon Orbiting a Gas Giant Primary or a High Velocity Planetary System in the Galactic Bulge

We present the first microlensing candidate for a free-floating exoplanet-exomoon system, MOA-2011-BLG-262, with a primary lens mass of M_host ~ 4 Jupiter masses hosting a sub-Earth mass moon. The data are well fit by this exomoon model, but an alternate star+planet model fits the data almost as well. Nevertheless, these results indicate the potential of microlensing to detect exomoons, albeit ones that are different from the giant planet moons in our solar system. The argument for an exomoon hinges on the system being relatively close to the Sun. The data constrain the product M pi_rel, where M is the lens system mass and pi_rel is the lens-source relative parallax. If the lens system is nearby (large pi_rel), then M is small (a few Jupiter masses) and the companion is a sub-Earth-mass exomoon. The best-fit solution has a large lens-source relative proper motion, mu_rel = 19.6 +- 1.6 mas/yr, which would rule out a distant lens system unless the source star has an unusually high proper motion. However, data from the OGLE collaboration nearly rule out a high source proper motion, so the exoplanet+exomoon model is the favored interpretation for the best fit model. However, the alternate solution has a lower proper motion, which is compatible with a distant (so stellar) host. A Bayesian analysis does not favor the exoplanet+exomoon interpretation, so Occam's razor favors a lens system in the bulge with host and companion masses of M_host = 0.12 (+0.19 -0.06) M_solar and m_comp = 18 (+28 -100 M_earth, at a projected separation of a_perp ~ 0.84 AU. The existence of this degeneracy is an unlucky accident, so current microlensing experiments are in principle sensitive to exomoons. In some circumstances, it will be possible to definitively establish the low mass of such lens systems through the microlensing parallax effect. Future experiments will be sensitive to less extreme exomoons.

astro-ph.EP↗

arXiv2013

MOA-2010-BLG-311: A planetary candidate below the threshold of reliable detection

We analyze MOA-2010-BLG-311, a high magnification (A_max>600) microlensing event with complete data coverage over the peak, making it very sensitive to planetary signals. We fit this event with both a point lens and a 2-body lens model and find that the 2-body lens model is a better fit but with only Delta chi^2~80. The preferred mass ratio between the lens star and its companion is $q=10^(-3.7+/-0.1), placing the candidate companion in the planetary regime. Despite the formal significance of the planet, we show that because of systematics in the data the evidence for a planetary companion to the lens is too tenuous to claim a secure detection. When combined with analyses of other high-magnification events, this event helps empirically define the threshold for reliable planet detection in high-magnification events, which remains an open question.

astro-ph.EP↗

arXiv2013

The Microlensing Event Rate and Optical Depth Toward the Galactic Bulge from MOA-II

We present measurements of the microlensing optical depth and event rate toward the Galactic Bulge based on two years of the MOA-II survey. This sample contains ~1000 microlensing events, with an Einstein Radius crossing time of t_E < 200 days between -5 <l< 10 degree and -7 <b< -1 degree. Our event rate and optical depth analysis uses 474 events with well defined microlensing parameters. In the central fields with |l|< 5 degree, we find an event rates of Γ= [2.39+/-1.1]e^{[0.60\pm0.05](3-|b|)}x 10^{-5}/star/yr and an optical depth of τ_{200} = [2.35+/-0.18]e^{[0.51+/-0.07](3-|b|)}x 10^{-6} for the 427 events using all sources brighter than I_s = 20 mag centered at (l,b)=(0.38, -3.72). We find that the event rate is maximized at low latitudes and a longitude of $l~1 degree. For the 111 events in 3.2 deg^2 of the central Galactic Bulge at |b| < 3.0 degree and 0.0 < l < 2.0, centered at (l,b)=(0.97, -2.26), we find Γ= 4.57_{-0.46}^{+0.51} x 10^{-5}/star/yr and τ_{200} = 3.64_{-0.45}^{+ 0.51} x 10^{-6}. We also consider a Red Clump Giant (RCG) star sample with I_s<17.5 mag. Our results are consistent with previous optical depth measurements. We find that the previously observed difference in optical depth measurements between all-source and RCG samples may be largely due to statistical fluctuations. These event rate measurements towards the central galactic bulge are necessary to predict the microlensing event rate and to optimize the survey fields in the future space mission such as WFIRST.

astro-ph.GA↗

arXiv2013

MOA-2010-BLG-328Lb: a sub-Neptune orbiting very late M dwarf ?

We analyze the planetary microlensing event MOA-2010-BLG-328. The best fit yields host and planetary masses of Mh = 0.11+/-0.01 M_{sun} and Mp = 9.2+/-2.2M_Earth, corresponding to a very late M dwarf and sub-Neptune-mass planet, respectively. The system lies at DL = 0.81 +/- 0.10 kpc with projected separation r = 0.92 +/- 0.16 AU. Because of the host's a-priori-unlikely close distance, as well as the unusual nature of the system, we consider the possibility that the microlens parallax signal, which determines the host mass and distance, is actually due to xallarap (source orbital motion) that is being misinterpreted as parallax. We show a result that favors the parallax solution, even given its close host distance. We show that future high-resolution astrometric measurements could decisively resolve the remaining ambiguity of these solutions.

astro-ph.EP↗

arXiv2013

Interpretation of a Short-Term Anomaly in the Gravitational Microlensing Event MOA-2012-BLG-486

A planetary microlensing signal is generally characterized by a short-term perturbation to the standard single lensing light curve. A subset of binary-source events can produce perturbations that mimic planetary signals, thereby introducing an ambiguity between the planetary and binary-source interpretations. In this paper, we present analysis of the microlensing event MOA-2012-BLG-486, for which the light curve exhibits a short-lived perturbation. Routine modeling not considering data taken in different passbands yields a best-fit planetary model that is slightly preferred over the best-fit binary-source model. However, when allowed for a change in the color during the perturbation, we find that the binary-source model yields a significantly better fit and thus the degeneracy is clearly resolved. This event not only signifies the importance of considering various interpretations of short-term anomalies, but also demonstrates the importance of multi-band data for checking the possibility of false-positive planetary signals.

astro-ph.SR↗

arXiv2013

Microlensing Discovery of a Tight, Low Mass-ratio Planetary-mass Object around an Old, Field Brown Dwarf

Observations of accretion disks around young brown dwarfs have led to the speculation that they may form planetary systems similar to normal stars. While there have been several detections of planetary-mass objects around brown dwarfs (2MASS 1207-3932 and 2MASS 0441-2301), these companions have relatively large mass ratios and projected separations, suggesting that they formed in a manner analogous to stellar binaries. We present the discovery of a planetary-mass object orbiting a field brown dwarf via gravitational microlensing, OGLE-2012-BLG-0358Lb. The system is a low secondary/primary mass ratio (0.080 +- 0.001), relatively tightly-separated (~0.87 AU) binary composed of a planetary-mass object with 1.9 +- 0.2 Jupiter masses orbiting a brown dwarf with a mass 0.022 M_Sun. The relatively small mass ratio and separation suggest that the companion may have formed in a protoplanetary disk around the brown dwarf host, in a manner analogous to planets.

astro-ph.EP↗

arXiv2013

Solar Activity during Two Millennia as Estimated from Annual Tree Rings

The relationship between solar activity and the global climate is not only an academically interesting issue, but also an important problem for human beings. Lean and Rind have analyzed a considerable amount of climate data from around the world from 1889 to 2006. According to their analysis, the global effect was estimated to be 0.17 plus-minus 0.01K between the solar maximum and minimum. However, they noticed that the effect strongly appeared in the zones between 70N and 30N, and between 25S and 50S. At its peak latitude (near 40), the effect was estimated to be 0.5 K. Therefore, we analyzed a tree that survived at the Murooji temple in Nara prefecture (34d32mN, 136d2mE) Japan, for 391 years. Quite surprisingly, Fourier analysis of the annual growth rate identified two cycles with periodicities of 12 and 25 years during the Maunder minimum. We have continued the analysis, using different samples from the Nagusa shrine in Hyogo Prefecture, Itayanagi City, Aomori Prefecture, Japan, and from Yaku Island in Kyusyu, Japan. An evidence of solar activity was found in all of the samples. In particular, we have discovered a correlation between Swiss glacier fluctuation and the growth rate of the Yaku tree ring.

astro-ph.SR↗

arXiv2013

Search for solar axions in XMASS, a large liquid-xenon detector

XMASS, a low-background, large liquid-xenon detector, was used to search for solar axions that would be produced by bremsstrahlung and Compton effects in the Sun. With an exposure of 5.6ton days of liquid xenon, the model-independent limit on the coupling for mass $\ll$ 1keV is $|g_{aee}|< 5.4\times 10^{-11}$ (90% C.L.), which is a factor of two stronger than the existing experimental limit. The bounds on the axion masses for the DFSZ and KSVZ axion models are 1.9 and 250eV, respectively. In the mass range of 10-40keV, this study produced the most stringent limit, which is better than that previously derived from astrophysical arguments regarding the Sun to date.

astro-ph.CO↗

arXiv2013

Microlensing Discovery of a Population of Very Tight, Very Low-mass Binary Brown Dwarfs

Although many models have been proposed, the physical mechanisms responsible for the formation of low-mass brown dwarfs are poorly understood. The multiplicity properties and minimum mass of the brown-dwarf mass function provide critical empirical diagnostics of these mechanisms. We present the discovery via gravitational microlensing of two very low-mass, very tight binary systems. These binaries have directly and precisely measured total system masses of 0.025 Msun and 0.034 Msun, and projected separations of 0.31 AU and 0.19 AU, making them the lowest-mass and tightest field brown-dwarf binaries known. The discovery of a population of such binaries indicates that brown dwarf binaries can robustly form at least down to masses of ~0.02 Msun. Future microlensing surveys will measure a mass-selected sample of brown-dwarf binary systems, which can then be directly compared to similar samples of stellar binaries.

astro-ph.SR↗

arXiv2013

A Giant Planet beyond the Snow Line in Microlensing Event OGLE-2011-BLG-0251

We present the analysis of the gravitational microlensing event OGLE-2011-BLG-0251. This anomalous event was observed by several survey and follow-up collaborations conducting microlensing observations towards the Galactic Bulge. Based on detailed modelling of the observed light curve, we find that the lens is composed of two masses with a mass ratio q=1.9 x 10^-3. Thanks to our detection of higher-order effects on the light curve due to the Earth's orbital motion and the finite size of source, we are able to measure the mass and distance to the lens unambiguously. We find that the lens is made up of a planet of mass 0.53 +- 0.21,M_Jup orbiting an M dwarf host star with a mass of 0.26 +- 0.11 M_Sun. The planetary system is located at a distance of 2.57 +- 0.61 kpc towards the Galactic Centre. The projected separation of the planet from its host star is d=1.408 +- 0.019, in units of the Einstein radius, which corresponds to 2.72 +- 0.75 AU in physical units. We also identified a competitive model with similar planet and host star masses, but with a smaller orbital radius of 1.50 +- 0.50 AU. The planet is therefore located beyond the snow line of its host star, which we estimate to be around 1-1.5 AU.

astro-ph.EP↗

arXiv2013

Light WIMP search in XMASS

A search for light dark matter using low-threshold data from the single phase liquid xenon scintillation detector XMASS, has been conducted. Using the entire 835 kg inner volume as target, the analysis threshold can be lowered to 0.3 keVee (electron-equivalent) to search for light dark matter. With low-threshold data corresponding to a 5591.4 kg$\cdot$day exposure of the detector and without discriminating between nuclear-recoil and electronic events, XMASS excludes part of the parameter space favored by other experiments.

astro-ph.CO↗

arXiv2013

XMASS detector

The XMASS project aims to detect dark matter, pp and $^{7}$Be solar neutrinos, and neutrinoless double beta decay using ultra pure liquid xenon. The first phase of the XMASS experiment searches for dark matter. In this paper, we describe the XMASS detector in detail, including its configuration, data acquisition equipment and calibration system.

physics.ins-det↗

arXiv2012

Using Orbital Effects to Break the Close/wide Degeneracy in Binary-lens Microlensing Events

Microlensing can provide an important tool to study binaries, especially those composed of faint or dark objects. However, accurate analysis of binary-lens light curves is often hampered by the well-known degeneracy between close (s<1) and wide (s>1) binaries, which can be very severe due to an intrinsic symmetry in the lens equation. Here s is the normalized projected binary separation. In this paper, we propose a method that can resolve the close/wide degeneracy using the effect of a lens orbital motion on lensing light curves. The method is based on the fact that the orbital effect tends to be important for close binaries while it is negligible for wide binaries. We demonstrate the usefulness of the method by applying it to an actually observed binary-lens event MOA-2011-BLG-040/OGLE-2011-BLG-0001, which suffers from severe close/wide degeneracy. From this, we are able to uniquely specify that the lens is composed of K and M-type dwarfs located at ~3.5 kpc from the Earth.

astro-ph.SR↗