arXiv subjects

Y. Tsapras

Publications and source records attributed to Y. Tsapras.

At least 37 records · Page 2Linked to original sources

arXiv2021

A spectroscopic follow-up for Gaia19bld

Due to their scarcity, microlensing events in the Galactic disk are of great interest and high-cadence photometric observations, supplemented by spectroscopic follow-up, are necessary for constraining the physical parameters of the lensing system. In particular, a precise estimate of the source characteristics is required to accurately measure the lens distance and mass. We conducted a spectroscopic follow-up of microlensing event Gaia19bld to derive the properties of the microlensing source and, ultimately, to estimate the mass and distance of the lens. We obtained low- and high-resolution spectroscopy from multiple sites around the world during the course of the event. The spectral lines and template matching analysis has led to two independent, consistent characterizations of the source. We found that the source is a red giant located at about 8.5 kpc from the Earth. Combining our results with the photometric analysis has led to a lens mass of Ml=1.1 M at a distance of D l = 5.5 kpc. We did not find any significant blend light in the spectra (with an upper detection limit of V < 17 mag), which is in agreement with photometric observations. Therefore, we cannot exclude the possibility that the lens is a main-sequence star. Indeed, we predict in this scenario a lens brightness of V about 20 mag, a value that would make it much fainter than the detection limit.

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arXiv2021

Single-lens mass measurement in the high-magnification microlensing event Gaia19bld located in the Galactic disc

We present the photometric analysis of Gaia19bld, a high-magnification ($A\approx60$) microlensing event located in the southern Galactic plane, which exhibited finite source and microlensing parallax effects. Due to a prompt detection by the Gaia satellite and the very high brightness of $I = 9.05~$mag at the peak, it was possible to collect a complete and unique set of multi-channel follow-up observations, which allowed us to determine all parameters vital for the characterisation of the lens and the source in the microlensing event. Gaia19bld was discovered by the Gaia satellite and was subsequently intensively followed up with a network of ground-based observatories and the Spitzer Space Telescope. We collected multiple high-resolution spectra with Very Large Telescope (VLT)/X-Shooter to characterise the source star. The event was also observed with VLT Interferometer (VLTI)/PIONIER during the peak. Here we focus on the photometric observations and model the light curve composed of data from Gaia, Spitzer, and multiple optical, ground-based observatories. We find the best-fitting solution with parallax and finite source effects. We derived the limit on the luminosity of the lens based on the blended light model and spectroscopic distance. We compute the mass of the lens to be $1.13 \pm 0.03~M_{\odot}$ and derive its distance to be $5.52^{+0.35}_{-0.64}~\mathrm{kpc}$. The lens is likely a main sequence star, however its true nature has yet to be verified by future high-resolution observations. Our results are consistent with interferometric measurements of the angular Einstein radius, emphasising that interferometry can be a new channel for determining the masses of objects that would otherwise remain undetectable, including stellar-mass black holes.

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arXiv2021

OGLE-2018-BLG-1185b : A Low-Mass Microlensing Planet Orbiting a Low-Mass Dwarf

We report the analysis of planetary microlensing event OGLE-2018-BLG-1185, which was observed by a large number of ground-based telescopes and by the $Spitzer$ Space Telescope. The ground-based light curve indicates a low planet-host star mass ratio of $q = (6.9 \pm 0.2) \times 10^{-5}$, which is near the peak of the wide-orbit exoplanet mass-ratio distribution. We estimate the host star and planet masses with a Bayesian analysis using the measured angular Einstein radius under the assumption that stars of all masses have an equal probability to host this planet. The flux variation observed by $Spitzer$ was marginal, but still places a constraint on the microlens parallax. Imposing a conservative constraint that this flux variation should be $Δf_{\rm Spz} < 4$ instrumental flux units indicates a host mass of $M_{\rm host} = 0.37^{+0.35}_{-0.21}\ M_\odot$ and a planet mass of $m_{\rm p} = 8.4^{+7.9}_{-4.7}\ M_\oplus$. A Bayesian analysis including the full parallax constraint from $Spitzer$ suggests smaller host star and planet masses of $M_{\rm host} = 0.091^{+0.064}_{-0.018}\ M_\odot$ and $m_{\rm p} = 2.1^{+1.5}_{-0.4}\ M_\oplus$, respectively. Future high-resolution imaging observations with $HST$ or ELTs could distinguish between these two scenarios and help to reveal the planetary system properties in more detail.

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arXiv2020

Gaia 18dvy: a new FUor in the Cygnus OB3 association

We present optical-infrared photometric and spectroscopic observations of Gaia18dvy, located in the Cygnus OB3 association at a distance of 1.88 kpc. The object was noted by the Gaia alerts system when its lightcurve exhibited a $\gtrsim$4 mag rise in 2018-2019. The brightening was also observable at mid-infared wavelengths. The infrared colors of Gaia18dvy became bluer as the outburst progressed. Its optical and near-infrared spectroscopic characteristics in the outburst phase are consistent with those of bona fide FU Orionis-type young eruptive stars. The progenitor of the outburst is probably a low-mass K-type star with an optical extinction of $\sim$3 mag. A radiative transfer modeling of the circumstellar structure, based on the quiescent spectral energy distribution, indicates a disk with a mass of $4{\times}10^{-3}\,M_{\odot}$. Our simple accretion disk modeling implies that the accretion rate had been exponentially increasing for more than 3 years until mid-2019, when it reached a peak value of $6.9 \times 10^{-6}\,M_{\odot}$yr$^{-1}$. In many respects, Gaia18dvy is similar to the FU Ori-type object HBC 722

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arXiv2019

OGLE-2013-BLG-0911Lb: A Secondary on the Brown-Dwarf Planet Boundary around an M-dwarf

We present the analysis of the binary-lens microlensing event OGLE-2013-BLG-0911. The best-fit solutions indicate the binary mass ratio of q~0.03 which differs from that reported in Shvartzvald+2016. The event suffers from the well-known close/wide degeneracy, resulting in two groups of solutions for the projected separation normalized by the Einstein radius of s~0.15 or s~7. The finite source and the parallax observations allow us to measure the lens physical parameters. The lens system is an M-dwarf orbited by a massive Jupiter companion at very close (M_{host}=0.30^{+0.08}_{-0.06} M_{Sun}, M_{comp}=10.1^{+2.9}_{-2.2} M_{Jup}, a_{exp}=0.40^{+0.05}_{-0.04} au) or wide (M_{host}=0.28^{+0.10}_{-0.08} M_{Sun}, M_{comp}=9.9^{+3.8}_{-3.5}M_{Jup}, a_{exp}=18.0^{+3.2}_{-3.2} au) separation. Although the mass ratio is slightly above the planet-brown dwarf (BD) mass-ratio boundary of q=0.03 which is generally used, the median physical mass of the companion is slightly below the planet-BD mass boundary of 13M_{Jup}. It is likely that the formation mechanisms for BDs and planets are different and the objects near the boundaries could have been formed by either mechanism. It is important to probe the distribution of such companions with masses of ~13M_{Jup} in order to statistically constrain the formation theories for both BDs and massive planets. In particular, the microlensing method is able to probe the distribution around low-mass M-dwarfs and even BDs which is challenging for other exoplanet detection methods.

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arXiv2019

Kojima-1Lb Is a Mildly Cold Neptune around the Brightest Microlensing Host Star

We report the analysis of additional multiband photometry and spectroscopy and new adaptive optics (AO) imaging of the nearby planetary microlensing event TCP J05074264+2447555 (Kojima-1), which was discovered toward the Galactic anticenter in 2017 (Nucita et al.). We confirm the planetary nature of the light-curve anomaly around the peak while finding no additional planetary feature in this event. We also confirm the presence of apparent blending flux and the absence of significant parallax signal reported in the literature. The AO image reveals no contaminating sources, making it most likely that the blending flux comes from the lens star. The measured multiband lens flux, combined with a constraint from the microlensing model, allows us to narrow down the previously unresolved mass and distance of the lens system. We find that the primary lens is a dwarf on the K/M boundary (0.581 \pm 0.033 M_sun) located at 505 \pm 47 pc and the companion (Kojima-1Lb) is a Neptune-mass planet (20.0 \pm 2.0 M_earth) with a semi-major axis of 1.08 ^{+0.62}_{-0.18} au. This orbit is a few times smaller than those of typical microlensing planets and is comparable to the snow-line location at young ages. We calculate that the a priori detection probability of Kojima-1Lb is only \sim 35%, which may imply that Neptunes are common around the snow line, as recently suggested by the transit and radial velocity techniques. The host star is the brightest among the microlensing planetary systems (Ks = 13.7), offering a great opportunity to spectroscopically characterize this system, even with current facilities.

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arXiv2019

Spitzer Microlensing Program as a Probe for Globular Cluster Planets. Analysis of OGLE-2015-BLG-0448

The microlensing event OGLE-2015-BLG-0448 was observed by Spitzer and lay within the tidal radius of the globular cluster NGC 6558. The event had moderate magnification and was intensively observed, hence it had the potential to probe the distribution of planets in globular clusters. We measure the proper motion of NGC 6558 ($μ_{\rm cl}$(N,E) = (+0.36+-0.10, +1.42+-0.10) mas/yr) as well as the source and show that the lens is not a cluster member. Even though this particular event does not probe the distribution of planets in globular clusters, other potential cluster lens events can be verified using our methodology. Additionally, we find that microlens parallax measured using OGLE photometry is consistent with the value found based on the light curve displacement between Earth and Spitzer.

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arXiv2019

An analysis of binary microlensing event OGLE-2015-BLG-0060

We present the analysis of stellar binary microlensing event OGLE-2015-BLG-0060 based on observations obtained from 13 different telescopes. Intensive coverage of the anomalous parts of the light curve was achieved by automated follow-up observations from the robotic telescopes of the Las Cumbres Observatory. We show that, for the first time, all main features of an anomalous microlensing event are well covered by follow-up data, allowing us to estimate the physical parameters of the lens. The strong detection of second-order effects in the event light curve necessitates the inclusion of longer-baseline survey data in order to constrain the parallax vector. We find that the event was most likely caused by a stellar binary-lens with masses $M_{\star1} = 0.87 \pm 0.12 M_{\odot}$ and $M_{\star2} = 0.77 \pm 0.11 M_{\odot}$. The distance to the lensing system is 6.41 $\pm 0.14$ kpc and the projected separation between the two components is 13.85 $\pm 0.16$ AU. Alternative interpretations are also considered.

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arXiv2019

OGLE-2018-BLG-0022: A Nearby M-dwarf Binary

We report observations of the binary microlensing event OGLE-2018-BLG-0022, provided by the ROME/REA Survey, which indicate that the lens is a low-mass binary star consisting of M3 (0.375+/-0.020 Msun) and M7 (0.098+/-0.005 Msun) components. The lens is unusually close, at 0.998+/-0.047 kpc, compared with the majority of microlensing events, and despite its intrinsically low luminosity, it is likely that AO observations in the near future will be able to provide an independent confirmation of the lens masses.

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arXiv2019

Electromagnetic probes of primordial black holes as dark matter

The LIGO discoveries have rekindled suggestions that primordial black holes (BHs) may constitute part to all of the dark matter (DM) in the Universe. Such suggestions came from 1) the observed merger rate of the BHs, 2) their unusual masses, 3) their low/zero spins, and 4) also from the independently uncovered cosmic infrared background (CIB) fluctuations signal of high amplitude and coherence with unresolved cosmic X-ray background (CXB). Here we summarize the prospects to resolve this important issue with electromagnetic observations using the instruments and tools expected in the 2020's. These prospects appear promising to make significant, and potentially critical, advances. We demonstrate that in the next decade, new space- and ground-borne electromagnetic instruments, combined with concurrent theoretical efforts, should shed critical light on the long-considered link between primordial BHs and DM. Specifically the new data and methodologies under this program will involve: I) Probing with high precision the spatial spectrum of source-subtracted CIB with Euclid and WFIRST, and its coherence with unresolved cosmic X-ray background using eROSITA and Athena, II) Advanced searches for microlensing of Galactic stars by the intervening Galactic Halo BHs with OGLE, Gaia, LSST and WFIRST, III) Supernovae (SNe) lensing in the upcoming surveys with WFIRST, LSST and also potentially with Euclid and JWST, IV) Advanced theoretical work to understand the details of PBH accretion and evolution and their influence on cosmic microwave background (CMB) anisotropies in light of the next generation CMB experiments, V) Better new samples and theoretical understanding involving stability and properties of ultra faint dwarf galaxies, pulsar timing, and cosmological quasar lensing.

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arXiv2018

The Diverse Science Return from a Wide-Area Survey of the Galactic Plane

The overwhelming majority of objects visible to LSST lie within the Galactic Plane. Though many previous surveys have avoided this region for fear of stellar crowding, LSST's spatial resolution combined with its state-of-the-art Difference Image Analysis mean that it can conduct a high cadence survey of most of the Galaxy for the first time. Here we outline the many areas of science that would greatly benefit from an LSST survey that included the Galactic Plane, Magellanic Clouds and Bulge at a cadence of 2-3 d. Particular highlights include measuring the mass spectrum of black holes, and mapping the population of exoplanets in the Galaxy in relation to variations in star forming environments. But the same survey data will provide a goldmine for a wide range of science, and we explore possible survey strategies which maximize the scientific return for a number of fields including young stellar objects, cataclysmic variables and Neptune Trojans.

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arXiv2018

Unique Science from a Coordinated LSST-WFIRST Survey of the Galactic Bulge

NASA's WFIRST mission will perform a wide-field, NIR survey of the Galactic Bulge to search for exoplanets via the microlensing techniques. As the mission is due to launch in the mid-2020s, around half-way through the LSST Main Survey, we have a unique opportunity to explore synergistic science from two landmark programs. LSST can survey the entire footprint of the WFIRST microlensing survey in a single Deep Drilling Field. Here we explore the great scientific potential of this proposal and recommend the most effective observing strategies.

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arXiv2018

A candidate super-Earth planet orbiting near the snow line of Barnard's star

At a distance of 1.8 parsecs, Barnard's star (Gl 699) is a red dwarf with the largest apparent motion of any known stellar object. It is the closest single star to the Sun, second only to the alpha Centauri triple stellar system. Barnard's star is also among the least magnetically active red dwarfs known and has an estimated age older than our Solar System. Its properties have made it a prime target for planet searches employing techniques such as radial velocity, astrometry, and direct imaging, all with different sensitivity limits but ultimately leading to disproved or null results. Here we report that the combination of numerous measurements from high-precision radial velocity instruments reveals the presence of a low-amplitude but significant periodic signal at 233 days. Independent photometric and spectroscopic monitoring, as well as the analysis of instrumental systematic effects, show that this signal is best explained as arising from a planetary companion. The candidate planet around Barnard's star is a cold super-Earth with a minimum mass of 3.2 Earth masses orbiting near its snow-line. The combination of all radial velocity datasets spanning 20 years additionally reveals a long-term modulation that could arise from a magnetic activity cycle or from a more distant planetary object. Because of its proximity to the Sun, the proposed planet has a maximum angular separation of 220 milli-arcseconds from Barnard's star, making it an excellent target for complementary direct imaging and astrometric observations.

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arXiv2018

First assessment of the binary lens OGLE-2015_BLG-0232

We present an analysis of the microlensing event OGLE-2015-BLG-0232. This event is challenging to characterize for two reasons. First, the light curve is not well sampled during the caustic crossing due to the proximity of the full Moon impacting the photometry quality. Moreover, the source brightness is difficult to estimate because this event is blended with a nearby K dwarf star. We found that the light curve deviations are likely due to a close brown dwarf companion (i.e., s = 0.55 and q = 0.06), but the exact nature of the lens is still unknown. We finally discuss the potential of follow-up observations to estimate the lens mass and distance in the future.

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arXiv2018

OGLE-2014-BLG-1186: gravitational microlensing providing evidence for a planet orbiting the foreground star or for a close binary source?

(abridged) Using the particularly long gravitational microlensing event OGLE-2014-BLG-1186 with a time-scale $t_\mathrm{E}$ ~ 300 d, we present a methodology for identifying the nature of localised deviations from single-lens point-source light curves, which ensures that 1) the claimed signal is substantially above the noise floor, 2) the inferred properties are robustly determined and their estimation not subject to confusion with systematic noise in the photometry, 3) there are no alternative viable solutions within the model framework that might have been missed. Annual parallax and binarity could be separated and robustly measured from the wing and the peak data, respectively. We find matching model light curves that involve either a binary lens or a binary source. Our binary-lens models indicate a planet of mass $M_2$ = (45 $\pm$ 9) $M_\oplus$, orbiting a star of mass $M_1$ = (0.35 $\pm$ 0.06) $M_\odot$, located at a distance $D_\mathrm{L}$ = (1.7 $\pm$ 0.3) kpc from Earth, whereas our binary-source models suggest a brown-dwarf lens of $M$ = (0.046 $\pm$ 0.007) $M_\odot$, located at a distance $D_\mathrm{L}$ = (5.7 $\pm$ 0.9) kpc, with the source potentially being a (partially) eclipsing binary involving stars predicted to be of similar colour given the ratios between the luminosities and radii. The ambiguity in the interpretation would be resolved in favour of a lens binary by observing the luminous lens star separating from the source at the predicted proper motion of $μ$ = (1.6 $\pm$ 0.3) mas yr$^{-1}$, whereas it would be resolved in favour of a source binary if the source could be shown to be a (partially) eclipsing binary matching the obtained model parameters. We experienced that close binary source stars pose a challenge for claiming the detection of planets by microlensing in events where the source passes very close to the lens star hosting the planet.

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arXiv2017

OGLE-2016-BLG-1190Lb: First Spitzer Bulge Planet Lies Near the Planet/Brown-Dwarf Boundary

We report the discovery of OGLE-2016-BLG-1190Lb, which is likely to be the first Spitzer microlensing planet in the Galactic bulge/bar, an assignation that can be confirmed by two epochs of high-resolution imaging of the combined source-lens baseline object. The planet's mass M_p= 13.4+-0.9 M_J places it right at the deuterium burning limit, i.e., the conventional boundary between "planets" and "brown dwarfs". Its existence raises the question of whether such objects are really "planets" (formed within the disks of their hosts) or "failed stars" (low mass objects formed by gas fragmentation). This question may ultimately be addressed by comparing disk and bulge/bar planets, which is a goal of the Spitzer microlens program. The host is a G dwarf M_host = 0.89+-0.07 M_sun and the planet has a semi-major axis a~2.0 AU. We use Kepler K2 Campaign 9 microlensing data to break the lens-mass degeneracy that generically impacts parallax solutions from Earth-Spitzer observations alone, which is the first successful application of this approach. The microlensing data, derived primarily from near-continuous, ultra-dense survey observations from OGLE, MOA, and three KMTNet telescopes, contain more orbital information than for any previous microlensing planet, but not quite enough to accurately specify the full orbit. However, these data do permit the first rigorous test of microlensing orbital-motion measurements, which are typically derived from data taken over <1% of an orbital period.

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arXiv2017

RoboTAP - target priorities for robotic microlensing observations

Context. The ability to automatically select scientifically-important transient events from an alert stream of many such events, and to conduct follow-up observations in response, will become increasingly important in astronomy. With wide-angle time domain surveys pushing to fainter limiting magnitudes, the capability to follow-up on transient alerts far exceeds our follow-up telescope resources, and effective target prioritization becomes essential. The RoboNet-II microlensing program is a pathfinder project which has developed an automated target selection process (RoboTAP) for gravitational microlensing events which are observed in real-time using the Las Cumbres Observatory telescope network. Aims. Follow-up telescopes typically have a much smaller field-of-view compared to surveys, therefore the most promising microlens- ing events must be automatically selected at any given time from an annual sample exceeding 2000 events. The main challenge is to select between events with a high planet detection sensitivity, aiming at the detection of many planets and characterizing planetary anomalies. Methods. Our target selection algorithm is a hybrid system based on estimates of the planet detection zones around a microlens. It follows automatic anomaly alerts and respects the expected survey coverage of specific events. Results. We introduce the RoboTAP algorithm, whose purpose is to select and prioritize microlensing events with high sensitivity to planetary companions. In this work, we determine the planet sensitivity of the RoboNet follow-up program and provide a working example of how a broker can be designed for a real-life transient science program conducting follow-up observations in response to alerts, exploring the issues that will confront similar programs being developed for the Large Synoptic Survey Telescope (LSST) and other time domain surveys.

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arXiv2017

Ground-based parallax confirmed by Spitzer: binary microlensing event MOA-2015-BLG-020

We present the analysis of the binary gravitational microlensing event MOA-2015-BLG-020. The event has a fairly long timescale (about 63 days) and thus the light curve deviates significantly from the lensing model that is based on the rectilinear lens-source relative motion. This enables us to measure the microlensing parallax through the annual parallax effect. The microlensing parallax parameters constrained by the ground-based data are confirmed by the Spitzer observations through the satellite parallax method. By additionally measuring the angular Einstein radius from the analysis of the resolved caustic crossing, the physical parameters of the lens are determined. It is found that the binary lens is composed of two dwarf stars with masses $M_1 = 0.606 \pm 0.028M_\odot$ and $M_2 = 0.125 \pm 0.006M_\odot$ in the Galactic disk. Assuming the source star is at the same distance as the bulge red clump stars, we find the lens is at a distance $D_L = 2.44 \pm 0.10 kpc$. In the end, we provide a summary and short discussion of all published microlensing events in which the annual parallax effect is confirmed by other independent observations.

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