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We determined values of distance modulus to nearby dwarf galaxy NGC 185 from the Tip of Red-Giant Branch (TRGB) method. Apparent magnitudes of the TRGB are estimated from the near-infrared JHK luminosity functions (LFs) of the resolved giant branch stars. Theoretical absolute magnitudes of the TRGB in near-infrared bands have been extracted from the Yonsei-Yale isochrones. The observed apparent and theoretical absolute magnitudes of the TRGB provide values of distance modulus to NGC 185 as (m - M).

We report the distance modulus of nearby dwarf irregular galaxy NGC 6822 estimated from the so-called Tip of Red-giant Branch (TRGB) method. To detect the apparent magnitudes of the TRGB we use the color-magnitude diagrams (CMDs) and luminosity functions (LFs) in the near-infrared JHK bands. Foreground stars, main-sequence stars, and supergiant stars have been classified on the (g - K, g) plane and removed on the near-infrared CMDs, from which only RGB and AGB stars are remained on the CMDs and LFs. By applying the Savitzky-Golay filter to the obtained LFs and detecting the peak in the second derivative of the observed LFs, we determined the apparent magnitudes of the TRGB. Theoretical absolute magnitudes of the TRGB are estimated from Yonsei-Yale isochrones with the age of 12Gyr and the metallicity range of -2.0

We report the distance modulus of nearby dwarf elliptical galaxy NGC 147 estimated from the Tip of Red-giant Branch (TRGB) method applying to the color-magnitude diagrams and luminosity functions in the near-infrared JHK bands. Apparent magnitudes of TRGBs in each band are obtained by applying Savitzky-Golay filter to the luminosity functions, and the theoretical absolute magnitudes are estimated from Yonsei-Yale isochrones. The derived values of distance modulus to NGC 147 are (m-M)=23.69±0.12, 23.78±0.17, and 23.85±0.22 for J, H, and K bands, respectively. Distance modulus in bolometric magnitude is also derived as (m-M)=23.87±0.11. We compare the derived values of the TRGB distance modulus to NGC 147 in the near-infrared bands with the previous results in other bands.

We report photometric features of the HB, MSTO, and SGB for a set of metal-poor Galactic globular clusters on the near-IR CMDs. The magnitude and color of the MSTO and SGB are measured on the fiducial normal points of the CMDs by applying a polynomial fit. The near-IR luminosity functions of horizontal branch stars in the classical second parameter pair M3 and M13 indicate that HB stars in M13 are dominated by hot stars that are rotatively faint in the infrared, whereas HB stars in M3 are brighter than those in M13. The luminosity functions of HB stars in the observed bulge clusters, except for NGC 6717, show a trend that the fainter hot HB stars are dominated in the relatively metal-poor clusters while the relatively metal-rich clusters contain the brighter HB stars. It is suggestive that NGC 6717 would be an extreme example of the second-parameter phenomenon for the bulge globular clusters.

We present an analysis of the caustic-crossing binary microlensing event OGLE-2017-BLG-0039. Thanks to the very long duration of the event, with a time scale tE ∼ 130 days, the microlens parallax is measured precisely despite its low value of . Analysis of the well-resolved caustic crossings during the source star’s entrance and exit of the caustic yields an angular Einstein radius of mas. The measured and indicate that the lens is a binary composed of two stars with masses and ∼0.15 M⊙, and is located at a distance of ∼6 kpc. From the color and brightness of the lens estimated from its determined mass and distance, it is expected that ∼2/3 of the I-band blended flux comes from the lens. Therefore, the event is a rare case of a bright lens event for which high-resolution follow-up observations can confirm its nature. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Microlensing is a powerful and unique technique to probe isolated objects in the Galaxy. To study the characteristics of these interesting objects based on the microlensing method, measurement of the microlens parallax is required to determine the properties of the lens. Of the various methods to measure microlens parallax, the most routine way is to make simultaneous ground- and space-based observations, i.e., by measuring the space-based microlens parallax. However, space-based campaigns usually require “expensive” resources. Gould & Yee (2012) proposed an idea called the “cheap space-based microlens parallax” that can measure the lens-parallax using only two or three space-based observations of high-magnification events (as seen from Earth). This cost-effective observation strategy to measure microlens parallaxes could be used by space-borne telescopes to build a complete sample for studying isolated objects. This would enable a direct measurement of the mass function including both extremely low-mass objects and high-mass stellar remnants. However, to adopt this idea requires a test to check how it would work in actual situations. Thus, we present the first practical test of this idea using the high-magnification microlensing event OGLE-2016-BLG-1045, for which a subset of Spitzer observations fortuitously duplicates the prescription of Gould & Yee (2012). From the test, we confirm that the measurement of the lens-parallax adopting this idea has sufficient accuracy to determine the physical properties of the isolated lens. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

We present an analysis of the binary-lens microlensing event OGLE-2017-BLG-0537. The light curve of the event exhibits two strong caustic-crossing spikes among which the second caustic crossing was resolved by high-cadence surveys. It is found that the lens components with a mass ratio ∼0.5 are separated in projection by , where θE is the angular Einstein radius. Analysis of the caustic-crossing part yields mas and a lens-source relative proper motion of μ = 12.4 ± 1.1 mas yr−1. The measured μ is the third highest value among the events with measured proper motions and is ∼3 times higher than the value of typical Galactic bulge events, making the event a strong candidate for follow-up observations to directly image the lens by separating it from the source. From the angular Einstein radius combined with the microlens parallax, it is estimated that the lens is composed of two main-sequence stars with masses M1 ∼ 0.4 M⊙ and M2 ∼ 0.2 M⊙ located at a distance of DL ∼ 1.2 kpc. However, the physical lens parameters are not very secure due to the weak microlens-parallax signal, thus we cross-check the parameters by conducting a Bayesian analysis based on the measured Einstein radius and event timescale, combined with the blending constraint. From this, we find that the physical parameters estimated from the Bayesian analysis are consistent with those based on the measured microlens parallax. Resolving the lens from the source can be done in about 5 years from high-resolution follow-up observations and this will provide a rare opportunity to test and refine the microlensing model. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

We report the discovery of a binary composed of two brown dwarfs, based on the analysis of the microlensing event OGLE-2016-BLG-1469. Thanks to the detection of both finite-source and microlens-parallax effects, we are able to measure both the masses and , and the distance , as well as the projected separation au. This is the third brown-dwarf binary detected using the microlensing method, demonstrating the usefulness of microlensing in detecting field brown-dwarf binaries with separations of less than 1 au. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

We report the analysis of the first resolved caustic-crossing binary-source microlensing event OGLE-2016-BLG-1003. The event is densely covered by round-the-clock observations of three surveys. The light curve is characterized by two nested caustic-crossing features, which is unusual for typical caustic-crossing perturbations. From the modeling of the light curve, we find that the anomaly is produced by a binary source passing over a caustic formed by a binary lens. The result proves the importance of high-cadence and continuous observations, and the capability of second-generation microlensing experiments to identify such complex perturbations that are previously unknown. However, the result also raises the issues of the limitations of current analysis techniques for understanding lens systems beyond two masses and of determining the appropriate multiband observing strategy of survey experiments. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

We analyze the single microlensing event OGLE-2015-BLG-1482 simultaneously observed from two ground-based surveys and from Spitzer. The Spitzer data exhibit finite-source effects that are due to the passage of the lens close to or directly over the surface of the source star as seen from Spitzer. Such finite-source effects generally yield measurements of the angular Einstein radius, which when combined with the microlens parallax derived from a comparison between the ground-based and the Spitzer light curves yields the lens mass and lens-source relative parallax. From this analysis, we find that the lens of OGLE-2015-BLG-1482 is a very low-mass star with a mass or a brown dwarf with a mass , which are located at and , respectively, where is the distance between the lens and the source, and thus it is the first isolated low-mass microlens that has been decisively located in the Galactic bulge. The degeneracy between the two solutions is severe (). The fundamental reason for the degeneracy is that the finite-source effect is seen only in a single data point from Spitzer, and this single data point gives rise to two solutions for ρ, the angular size of the source in units of the angular Einstein ring radius. Because the ρ degeneracy can be resolved only by relatively high-cadence observations around the peak, while the Spitzer cadence is typically , we expect that events for which the finite-source effect is seen only in the Spitzer data may frequently exhibit this ρ degeneracy. For OGLE-2015-BLG-1482, the relative proper motion of the lens and source for the low-mass star is , while for the brown dwarf it is . Hence, the degeneracy can be resolved within from direct-lens imaging by using next-generation instruments with high spatial resolution. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The co-planarity of solar system planets led Kant to suggest that they formed from an accretion disk, and the discovery of hundreds of such disks around young stars as well as hundreds of co-planar planetary systems by the Kepler satellite demonstrate that this formation mechanism is extremely widespread. Many moons in the solar system, such as the Galilean moons of Jupiter, also formed out of the accretion disks that coalesced into the giant planets. Here we report the discovery of an intermediate system, OGLE-2013-BLG-0723LB/Bb, composed of a Venus-mass planet orbiting a brown dwarf, which may be viewed either as a scaled-down version of a planet plus a star or as a scaled-up version of a moon plus a planet orbiting a star. The latter analogy can be further extended since they orbit in the potential of a larger, stellar body. For ice-rock companions formed in the outer parts of accretion disks, like Uranus and Callisto, the scaled masses and separations of the three types of systems are similar, leading us to suggest that the formation processes of companions within accretion disks around stars, brown dwarfs, and planets are similar. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

We report the discovery of a Jupiter-mass planet orbiting an M-dwarf star that gave rise to the microlensing event OGLE-2011-BLG-0265. Such a system is very rare among known planetary systems and thus the discovery is important for theoretical studies of planetary formation and evolution. High-cadence temporal coverage of the planetary signal, combined with extended observations throughout the event, allows us to accurately model the observed light curve. However, the final microlensing solution remains degenerate, yielding two possible configurations of the planet and the host star. In the case of the preferred solution, the mass of the planet is , and the planet is orbiting a star with a mass . The second possible configuration (2σ away) consists of a planet with and host star with . The system is located in the Galactic disk 3–4 kpc toward the Galactic bulge. In both cases, with an orbit size of 1.5–2.0 AU, the planet is a “cold Jupiter”—located well beyond the “snow line” of the host star. Currently available data make the secure selection of the correct solution difficult, but there are prospects for lifting the degeneracy with additional follow-up observations in the future, when the lens and source star separate. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

High-magnification gravitational microlensing events provide an important channel of detecting planetary systems with multiple giants located at their birth places. In order to investigate the potential existence of additional planets, we reanalyze the light curves of the eight high-magnification microlensing events, for each of which a single planet was previously detected. The analyzed events include OGLE-2005-BLG-071, OGLE-2005-BLG-169, MOA-2007-BLG-400, MOA-2008-BLG-310, MOA-2009-BLG-319, MOA-2009-BLG-387, MOA-2010-BLG-477, and MOA-2011-BLG-293. We find that including an additional planet improves fits with for seven out of eight analyzed events. For MOA-2009-BLG-319, the improvement is relatively big with . From inspection of the fits, we find that the improvement of the fits is attributed to systematics in data. Although no clear evidence of additional planets is found, it is still possible to constrain the existence of additional planets in the parameter space. For this purpose, we construct exclusion diagrams showing the confidence levels excluding the existence of an additional planet as a function of its separation and mass ratio. We also present the exclusion ranges of additional planets with 90% confidence level for Jupiter-, Saturn-, and Uranus-mass planets. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]