Search

The class of type Ic supernovae have drawn increasing attention since 1998 owing to their sparse association (only four so far) with long duration gamma-ray bursts. Although both phenomena originate from the core collapse of a massive star, supernovae emit mostly at optical wavelengths, whereas GRBs emit mostly in soft gamma-rays or hard X-rays. Though the GRB central engine generates ultra-relativistic jets, which beam the early emission into a narrow cone, no relativistic outflows have hitherto been found in type Ib/c supernovae explosions, despite theoretical expectations and searches. Here we report radio (interferometric) observations that reveal a mildly relativistic expansion in a nearby type Ic supernova, SN 2007gr. Using two observational epochs 60 days apart, we detect expansion of the source and establish a conservative lower limit for the average apparent expansion velocity of 0.6c. Independently, a second mildly relativistic supernova has been reported. Contrary to the radio data, optical observations of SN 2007gr indicate a typical type Ic supernova with ejecta velocities ~6000 km/s, much lower than in GRB-associated supernovae. We conclude that in SN 2007gr a small fraction of the ejecta produced a low-energy mildly relativistic bipolar radio jet, while the bulk of the ejecta were slower and, as shown by optical spectro-polarimetry, mildly aspherical., Comment: Nature, 10 pages (including supplementary material), 2 figures

We combine the catalogue of eclipsing binaries from the All Sky Automated Survey (ASAS) with the ROSAT All Sky Survey (RASS). The combination results in 836 eclipsing binaries that display coronal activity and is the largest sample of active binary stars assembled to date. By using the (V-I) colors of the ASAS eclipsing binary catalogue, we are able to determine the distances and thus bolometric luminosities for the majority of eclipsing binaries that display significant stellar activity. A typical value for the ratio of soft X-ray to bolometric luminosity is L_X/L_bol ~ a few x 10^-4, similar to the ratio of soft X-ray to bolometric flux F_X/F_bol in the most active regions of the Sun. Unlike rapidly rotating isolated late-type dwarfs -- stars with significant outer convection zones -- a tight correlation between Rossby number and activity of eclipsing binaries is absent. We find evidence for the saturation effect and marginal evidence for the so-called "super-saturation" phenomena. Our work shows that wide-field stellar variability searches can produce a high yield of binary stars with strong coronal activity. The combined ASAS and RASS catalogue, as well as the results of this work are available for download in a form of a file., Comment: 15 pages, accepted for publication in Acta Astronomica

Searches for extrasolar planets have uncovered an astonishing diversity of planetary systems, yet the frequency of solar system analogs remains unknown. The gravitational microlensing planet search method is potentially sensitive to multiple-planet systems containing analogs of all the solar system planets except Mercury. We report the detection of a multiple-planet system with microlensing. We identify two planets with masses of ~0.71 and ~0.27 times the mass of Jupiter and orbital separations of ~2.3 and ~4.6 astronomical units orbiting a primary star of mass ~0.50 solar masses at a distance of ~1.5 kiloparsecs. This system resembles a scaled version of our solar system in that the mass ratio, separation ratio, and equilibrium temperatures of the planets are similar to those of Jupiter and Saturn. These planets could not have been detected with other techniques; their discovery from only six confirmed microlensing planet detections suggests that solar system analogs may be common., Comment: 11 pages, 2 figures, published in the 15 February 2008 issue of Science

We combine Spitzer and ground-based observations to measure the microlens parallax of OGLE-2005-SMC-001, the first such space-based determination since S. Refsdal proposed the idea in 1966. The parallax measurement yields a projected velocity \tilde v ~ 230 km/s, the typical value expected for halo lenses, but an order of magnitude smaller than would be expected for lenses lying in the Small Magellanic Cloud (SMC) itself. The lens is a weak (i.e., non-caustic-crossing) binary, which complicates the analysis considerably but ultimately contributes additional constraints. Using a test proposed by Assef et al. (2006), which makes use only of kinematic information about different populations but does not make any assumptions about their respective mass functions, we find that the likelihood ratio is L_halo/L_SMC = 20. Hence, halo lenses are strongly favored but SMC lenses are not definitively ruled out. Similar Spitzer observations of additional lenses toward the Magellanic Clouds would clarify the nature of the lens population. The Space Interferometry Mission could make even more constraining measurements., Comment: ApJ, in press. Text and figures are updated to match the journal version

The contact binary AW UMa has an extreme mass ratio, with the more massive component (the current primary) close to the main sequence, while the low mass star at q ~ 0.1 (the current secondary) has a much larger radius than a main sequence star of a comparable mass. We propose that the current secondary has almost exhausted hydrogen in its center and is much more advanced in its evolution, as suggested by Stepien. Presumably the current secondary lost most of its mass during its evolution with part of it transferred to the current primary. After losing a large fraction of its angular momentum, the binary may evolve into a system of FK Com type., Comment: 5 pages, 6 figures, Accepted to MNRAS, content changed

We detect a Neptune mass-ratio (q~8e-5) planetary companion to the lens star in the extremely high-magnification (A~800) microlensing event OGLE-2005-BLG-169. If the parent is a main-sequence star, it has mass M~0.5 M_sun implying a planet mass of ~13 M_earth and projected separation of ~2.7 AU. When intensely monitored over their peak, high-magnification events similar to OGLE-2005-BLG-169 have nearly complete sensitivity to Neptune mass-ratio planets with projected separations of 0.6 to 1.6 Einstein radii, corresponding to 1.6--4.3 AU in the present case. Only two other such events were monitored well enough to detect Neptunes, and so this detection by itself suggests that Neptune mass-ratio planets are common. Moreover, another Neptune was recently discovered at a similar distance from its parent star in a low-magnification event, which are more common but are individually much less sensitive to planets. Combining the two detections yields 90% upper and lower frequency limits f=0.37^{+0.30}_{-0.21} over just 0.4 decades of planet-star separation. In particular, f>16% at 90% confidence. The parent star hosts no Jupiter-mass companions with projected separations within a factor 5 of that of the detected planet. The lens-source relative proper motion is \mu~7--10 mas/yr, implying that if the lens is sufficiently bright, I<23.8, it will be detectable by HST by 3 years after peak. This would permit a more precise estimate of the lens mass and distance, and so the mass and projected separation of the planet. Analogs of OGLE-2005-BLG-169Lb orbiting nearby stars would be difficult to detect by other methods of planet detection, including radial velocities, transits, or astrometry., Comment: Submitted to ApJ Letters, 9 text pages + 4 figures + 1 table

In the favoured core-accretion model of formation of planetary systems, solid planetesimals accumulate to build up planetary cores, which then accrete nebular gas if they are sufficiently massive. Around M-dwarf stars (the most common stars in our Galaxy), this model favours the formation of Earth-mass to Neptune-mass planets with orbital radii of 1 to 10 astronomical units (AU), which is consistent with the small number of gas giant planets known to orbit M-dwarf host stars. More than 170 extrasolar planets have been discovered with a wide range of masses and orbital periods, but planets of Neptune's mass or less have not hitherto been detected at separations of more than 0.15 AU from normal stars. Here we report the discovery of a 5.5 (+5.5/-2.7) M_earth planetary companion at a separation of 2.6 (+1.5/-0.6) AU from a 0.22 (+0.21/-0.11) M_solar M-dwarf star. (We propose to name it OGLE-2005-BLG-390Lb, indicating a planetary mass companion to the lens star of the microlensing event.) The mass is lower than that of GJ876d, although the error bars overlap. Our detection suggests that such cool, sub-Neptune-mass planets may be more common than gas giant planets, as predicted by the core accretion theory.

ASAS is a long term project to monitor bright variable stars over the whole sky. It has discovered 50,122 variables brighter than V < 14 mag south of declination +28 degrees, and among them 11,099 eclipsing binaries. We present a preliminary analysis of 5,384 contact, 2,957 semi-detached, and 2,758 detached systems. The statistics of the distribution provides a qualitative confirmation of decades old idea of Flannery and Lucy that W UMa type binaries evolve through a series of relaxation oscillations: ASAS finds comparable number of contact and semidetached systems. The most surprising result is a very small number of detached eclipsing binaries with periods P < 1 day, the systems believed to be the progenitors of W UMa stars. As many (perhaps all) contact binaries have companions, there is a possibility that some were formed in a Kozai cycle, as suggested by Eggleton and his associates., Comment: 8 pages, 12 figures, latex, submitted to MNRAS

Studying transient phenomena with the Very Long Baseline Interferometry (VLBI) technique faces severe difficulties because the turnaround time of the experiments from the observations to the scientific result is rather long. The e-VLBI technique has made it possible to transfer the data from a number of European VLBI Network (EVN) telescopes to the central data processor at JIVE through optical fibres, and correlate them in real time. The main goal of this paper is to introduce this rapidly developing new technique, by presenting observational results from a recent experiment. We observed SN2001em, a Type Ib/c supernova with an e-VLBI array and the Multi-Element Radio Linked Interferometer Network (MERLIN) in the UK. The source is marginally detected in our observations. We cannot make definite conclusions whether it is resolved at 1.6 GHz or not. Our data show that SN2001em either started fading in the last couple of months, or its radio spectrum is inverted at low frequencies,indicating free-free or synchrotron self-absorption. This is quite unusual, but not unprecedented in radio SNe., Comment: To appear in the proceedings of "Stellar End Products" conference held in Granada, Spain, 12-15 April 2005. Five pages, one figure

We report the discovery of a several-Jupiter mass planetary companion to the primary lens star in microlensing event OGLE-2005-BLG-071. Precise (<1%) photometry at the peak of the event yields an extremely high signal-to-noise ratio detection of a deviation from the light curve expected from an isolated lens. The planetary character of this deviation is easily and unambiguously discernible from the gross features of the light curve. Detailed modeling yields a tightly-constrained planet-star mass ratio of q=m_p/M=0.0071+/-0.0003. This is the second robust detection of a planet with microlensing, demonstrating that the technique itself is viable and that planets are not rare in the systems probed by microlensing, which typically lie several kpc toward the Galactic center., Comment: 4 pages. Minor changes. Accepted for publication in ApJ Letters

We present a measurement of the microlensing optical depth toward the Galactic Bulge based on 4 years of the OGLE-II survey using Red Clump Giant (RCG). Using 32 events we find tau=2.55_{-0.46}^{+0.57}* 10^{-6} at (l,b)=(1.16, -2.75). Taking into account the measured gradient along the Galactic latitude b, tau = [ (4.48+/- 2.37) + (0.78+/- 0.84)* b]* 10^{-6}, this value is consistent with previous measurements using RCG sources and recent theoretical predictions. We determine the microlensing parameters and select events using a model light curve with the flux blending. We find that ~38% of the OGLE-II events which appear to have RCG sources are actually due to much fainter stars blended with a bright companion. We show explicitly that model fits without blending result in similar tau estimates through partial cancellation of contributions from higher detection efficiency, underestimated time-scales and larger number of selected events. This approach, however, leads to biased time-scale distributions and event rates. Consequently, microlensing studies should carefully consider source confusion effects even for bright stars., Comment: 49 pages and 18 figures, ApJ in press, the value changed due to the systematic correction

Long gamma-ray bursts (GRBs) are believed to be related to the explosion of type Ic supernovae, which have been stripped of their hydrogen and helium envelopes. There appear to be two types of these explosions: those which are approximately spherical (GRB980425/1998bw), and which are associated with weak bursts, and the classical GRBs which generate ultrarelativistic jets (GRB030329/SN2003dh). If this bimodality is real Swift will provide a clear evidence for it. We propose that classical powerful GRBs, which generate ultrarelativistic outflows, are a result of a formation of quark stars. Quark stars may provide an additional energy for the explosion of SN Ic, but far more important is a creation of a surface which acts as a membrane which cannot be penetrated by baryons. A surface of a quark star allows only ultrarelativistic matter to escape: photons, neutrinos, electron -- positron pairs and magnetic fields. The formation of a quark star follows the initial core collapse in several minutes. Possible evidence for this time delay is provided by BATSE precursors to GRBs, as analyzed by Lazzati (2005)., Comment: 5 pages, (v3) MNRAS Letters, in press

The Microlensing Planet Finder (MPF) is a proposed Discovery mission that will complete the first census of extrasolar planets with sensitivity to planets like those in our own solar system. MPF will employ a 1.1m aperture telescope, which images a 1.3 sq. deg. field-of-view in the near-IR, in order to detect extrasolar planets with the gravitational microlensing effect. MPF's sensitivity extends down to planets of 0.1 Earth masses, and MPF can detect Earth-like planets at all separations from 0.7AU to infinity. MPF's extrasolar planet census will provide critical information needed to understand the formation and frequency of extra solar planetary systems similar to our own., Comment: To appear in the Proceedings of the SPIE Astronomical Telescopes and Instrumentation Symposium held in Glascow, Scotland, on 21-25 June, 2004. 12 PDF pages

We present observations of the unusual microlensing event OGLE 2003-BLG-235/MOA 2003-BLG-53. In this event a short duration (~7 days) low amplitude deviation in the light curve due a single lens profile was observed in both the MOA and OGLE survey observations. We find that the observed features of the light curve can only be reproduced using a binary microlensing model with an extreme (planetary) mass ratio of 0.0039 +/- (11, 07) for the lensing system. If the lens system comprises a main sequence primary, we infer that the secondary is a planet of about 1.5 Jupiter masses with an orbital radius of ~3 AU., Comment: 13 pages, 3 colour figures. To appear in Astrophysical Journal Letters (May 2004)

Among over 200,000 Galactic Bulge variable stars in the public domain OGLE catalogue, we found over 15,000 red giant variables following two well defined period -- amplitude relations. The periods are in the range 10 < P < 100 days, and amplitudes in the range 0.005 < A < 0.13 mag in I-band. The variables cover a broad range of reddening corrected colours, 1 < (V-I)_0 < 5, and a fairly narrow range of extinction corrected apparent magnitudes, 10.5 < I_0 < 13 . A subset of variables (type A) has a rms scatter of only 0.44 mag. The average magnitudes for these stars are well correlated with the Galactic longitude, and vary from I_{k,0} = 11.82 for l = +8 deg to I_{k,0} = 12.07 for l = -5 deg, clearly indicating that they are located in the Galactic Bar. Most variables have several oscillation periods., Comment: 15 pages, 9 figures (7 in low resolution), submitted to MNRAS. Article in full resolution can be obtained at http://www.astro.princeton.edu/~leyer/wrayetal.ps

We analyze the photometry of 117 OGLE stars with periodic transit events for the presence of ellipsoidal light variations, which indicate the presence of massive companions. We find that ~50% of objects may have stellar companions, mostly among the short period systems. In our Table 1 we identify a coefficient of ellipsoidal variability for each star, a_{c2}, which can be used to select prime candidates for planetary searches. There is a prospect of improving the analysis, and the systems with smaller ellipsoidal variability will be identified, when the correlations in the OGLE photometry are corrected for in the future, thereby providing a cleaner list of systems with possible planets., Comment: 22 pages, 9 figures, discussion enhanced, accepted by ApJ

The microlensing event OGLE-2002-BLG-055 has a single, but very reliable data point, deviating upward from a single source microlensing light curve by 0.6 mag. The simplest interpretation calls for a binary lens with a strong parallax effect and the mass ratio in the range 0.01 - 0.001, putting the companion in the Jupiter mass range. Given only a single deviant point it is impossible to fit a unique model. We propose a modification of OGLE observing strategy: instant verification of a reality of future deviant points, followed by a frequent time sampling, to make a unique model fit possible., Comment: 8 pages, 3 figures, submitted to Acta Astronomica

To generate the standard microlensing light curve one assumes that the relative motion of the source, the lens, and the observer is linear. In reality, the relative motion is likely to be more complicated due to accelerations of the observer, the lens and the source. The simplest approximation beyond the linear-motion assumption is to add a constant acceleration. Microlensing light curves due to accelerations can be symmetric or asymmetric depending on the angle between the acceleration and the velocity. We show that it is possible that some of the previously reported shorter marginal parallax events can be reproduced with constant-acceleration models, while the longer, multi-year parallax events are ill-fitted by such models. We find that there is a generic degeneracy inherent in constant-acceleration microlensing models. We also find that there is an equivalent degeneracy in parallax models, which manifests itself in short-duration events. The importance of this new parallax degeneracy is illustrated with an example, using one of these marginal parallax events. Our new analysis suggests that another of these previously suspected parallax candidate events may be exhibiting some weak binary-source signatures. If this turns out to be true, spectroscopic observations of the source could determine some parameters in the model and may also constrain or even determine the lens mass. We also point out that symmetric light curves with constant accelerations can mimic blended light curves, producing misleading Einstein-radius crossing time-scales when fitted by the standard `blended' microlensing model; this may have some effect on the estimation of optical depth., Comment: 24 pages, 5 figures (in colour). Accepted for publication in MNRAS. Minor error in Appendix B corrected (Results of paper unaffected)

We present results of an extensive photometric search for planetary and low-luminosity object transits in the Galactic disk stars commencing the third phase of the Optical Gravitational Lensing Experiment -- OGLE-III. Photometric observations of three fields in the direction of the Galactic center (800 epochs per field) were collected on 32 nights during time interval of 45 days. Out of the total of 5 million stars monitored, about 52~000 Galactic disk stars with photometry better than 1.5% were analyzed for flat-bottomed eclipses with the depth smaller than 0.08 mag. Altogether 46 stars with transiting low-luminosity objects were detected. For 42 of them multiple transits were observed, a total of 185, allowing orbital period determination. Transits in two objects: OGLE-TR-40 and OGLE-TR-10, with the radii ratio of about 0.14 and estimate of the radius of the companion 1.0-1.5R_Jup, resemble the well known planetary transit in HD 209458. The sample was selected by the presence of apparent transits only, with no knowledge on any other properties. Hence, it is very well suited for general study of low-luminosity objects. The transiting objects may be Jupiters, brown dwarfs, or M dwarfs. Future determination of the amplitude of radial velocity changes will establish their masses, and will confirm or refute the reality of the so called ``brown dwarf desert''. The low-mass stellar companions will provide new data needed for the poorly known mass-radius relation for the lower main sequence. All photometric data are available to the astronomical community from the OGLE Internet archive., Comment: 14 pages, Latex - journal version (Acta Astronomica 52, 1). Only five pages of Appendix included ('jpg' format). All full resolution pages of Appendix and photometric data presented in the paper are available from the OGLE Internet archive: http://www.astrouw.edu.pl/~ogle or its US mirror http://www.astro.princeton.edu/~ogle

We use masses, radii, and luminosities of the detached eclipsing binary OGLEGC17 derived from photometric and spectroscopic observations to calculate the age and distance of the globular cluster omega Cen. Age versus turnoff mass and age versus luminosity relations from Girardi et al. (2000) yield two independent estimates of the age, 9.1

Contrary to some recent claims the `no torque inner boundary condition' as applied at the marginally stable orbit is correct for geometrically thin disks accreting into black holes., Comment: 3 pages, latex, submitted on April 10, 2000 to The Astrophysical Journal Letters

We present UBVI photometry for 8530 stars in Baade's Window obtained during the OGLE-II microlensing survey. Among these are over one thousand red clump giants. 1391 of them have photometry with errors smaller than 0.04, 0.06, 0.12, and 0.20 mag in the I, V, B and U-band, respectively. We constructed a map of interstellar reddening. The corrected colors of the red clump giants: (U-B)_0, (B-V)_0, and (V-I)_0 are very well correlated, indicating that a single parameter determines the observed spread of their values, reaching almost 2 mag in the (U-B)_0. It seems most likely that heavy element content is the dominant parameter, but it is possible that another parameter: the age (or mass) of a star moves it along the same trajectory in the color--color diagram as the metallicity. The current ambiguity can be resolved with spectral analysis, and our catalog may be useful as a finding list of red clump giants. We point out that these K giants are more suitable for a fair determination of the distribution of metallicity than brighter M giants. We also present a compilation of UBVI data for 308 red clump giants near the Sun, for which Hipparcos parallaxes are more accurate than 10%. Spectral analysis of their metallicity may provide information about the local metallicity distribution as well as the extent to which mass (age) of these stars affects their colors. It is remarkable that in spite of a number of problems, stellar models agree with observations at the 0.1-0.2 mag level, making red clump giants not only the best calibrated but also the best understood standard candle., Comment: 23 pages, Latex+psfig. Acta Astronomica 49, 319. Full version of Tables in computer readable form and the FORTRAN code calculating reddening are available from the OGLE archive: http://www.astrouw.edu.pl/~ftp/ogle or its US mirror http://www.astro.princeton.edu/~ogle Revisions include: larger sample of red clump stars, discussion of colors of these stars, corrected coordinates in Table 3

We have reanalyzed the OGLE $V$ and $I$ photometry of $\sim 500,000$ stars in Baade's Window, and we confirm the extinction map published by Stanek (1996). However, we find that the interpretation of the OGLE color--magnitude diagram for the disk stars proposed by Paczy\'nski et al. (1994) was incorrect: the dominant disk population in Baade's Window is old, and we find no evidence for a large hole in the inner Galactic disk. We find evidence for a small systematic error in the OGLE photometry for stars below the ``red clump'': the faint stars with $V>18$ have their $(V-I)$ color indices too red by $\sim 0.1\;mag$. We find tentative evidence from the OGLE and HST photometry that the the bulge main sequence turn--off point is brighter by $\sim 0.5 \;mag$ than it is in either 47~Tuc or NGC~6791, indicating that the dominant population of the Galactic bulge is considerably younger than those clusters., Comment: submitted to the Astrophysical Journal, 17 pages, 9 figures, 4 figures included; all figures are available using ftp://www.astro.princeton.edu/stanek/Kiraga

Microlensing of distant stars in the Milky Way by the nearby high proper motion stars offers a direct way to precisely measure the masses of single lower main sequence stars and brown dwarfs., Comment: 4 pages, plain TEX, no figures

Geometrical optics provides an excellent description for quasar images crossing caustics which are formed by gravitational microlensing of objects like Q2237+0305. Within this approximation the source size can be estimated from the maximum magnification reached at caustic crossings. We evaluate the limitations imposed by diffraction on caustics using the formalism developed by Ulmer & Goodman (1995). Close to a caustic a new characteristic length, smaller that the Fresnel length, enters the problem, limiting the angular resolution to about 0.2 pico arcsecond, or equivalently about 3*10^9 cm at the source. To achieve this resolution the brightness must be monitored at time intervals of a few seconds. If a significant fraction of quasar luminosity comes from sources smaller than those limits then interference effects would make the observed intensity oscillate, in a close analogy with a two slit experiment. The characteristic period of such oscillations is expected to be about one tenth of a minute. If such oscillations are detected then photometry carried out at a single site may permit the determination of the caustic transverse velocity, and therefore may permit a direct conversion of the time units of brightness variations to the linear units at the source. Subject headings: Gravitational lensing - dark matter - quasars: structure -quasars: Q2237+0305, Comment: 10 pages, plain TEX file, no figures. Submitted to ApJ postscript available at by anonymous ftp at ftp://astro.princeton.edu/library/preprint/pop615.ps.Z

A conventional explanation of the dipole anisotropy of the cosmic microwave background (CMB) radiation is in terms of the Doppler effect: our galaxy is moving with respect to CMB frame with $ \sim 600 ~ km ~ s^{-1} $. However, as the deep redshift surveys fail to reveal a convergence of the large scale flow to zero at distances as large as $ d \sim H^{-1} 15,000 ~ km ~ s^{-1} $ (Lauer & Postman, 1994), the uniqueness of the conventional interpretation has to be investigated. A possible alternative might be a cosmological entropy gradient, as suggested by Paczy\'nski & Piran (1990). We find that contrary to that suggestion a quadrupole anisotropy is generically of the same order of magnitude as the dipole anisotropy (or larger) not only for adiabatic but also for iso-curvature initial perturbations. Hence, the observed dipole cannot be explained with a very large scale perturbation which was initially iso-curvature., Comment: 14 pages, plain TEX Submitted to ApJ The full postscript version with 3 figures at ftp://astro.princeton.edu/library/preprints/pop602.ps.Z (88kB, compressed). e-mails: mj@orion.astrouw.edu.pl, bp@astro.princeton.edu

The analysis of the first three years of the OGLE data revealed 12 microlensing events of the Galactic bulge stars, with the characteristic time scales in the range $ 8.6 < t_0 < 80 $ days, where $ t_0 = R_E / V $. A complete sample of nine events gave the optical depth to gravitational microlensing larger than $(3.3 \pm 1.2) \times 10^{-6}$, in excess of current theoretical estimates, indicating a much higher efficiency for microlensing by either bulge or disk lenses. The lenses are likely to be ordinary stars in the Galactic bar, which has its long axis elongated towards us. At this time we have no evidence that the OGLE events are related to dark matter. The OGLE color magnitude diagrams reveal the presence of the Galactic bar and a low density inner disk region $ \sim 4 $ kpc in radius. A catalogue of a few thousand variable stars is in preparation., Comment: 10 pages, 5 figures, invited talk presented at the IAU Symposium 169 ``Unsolved Problems of the Milky Way'', uses Kluwer LaTeX style macro, PostScript version with figures available through anonymous ftp from astro.princeton.edu, directory stanek/Hague, through WWW, http://astro.princeton.edu/~library/prep.html, or on request. Princeton Observatory Preprint (electronic) POPe-598

The discoveries of 17 microlensing event candidates have been reported over the last year by three teams conducting unprecedented mass photometric searches in the direction of the Galactic bulge and the Magellanic Clouds. These include 10 events found by the OGLE collaboration, 5 by the MACHO team and 2 by the EROS team. All searches have the main goal to detect dark matter in our Galaxy. The detection of 17 event candidates proves that the microlensing is a powerful tool in the search for dark matter, and it may be used for reliable mass determination when the geometry of the event is known. Here we present the first microlensing event, OGLE~\#11, discovered in real time, using the newly implemented "Early Warning System". We describe our system which makes it possible to monitor and study in great details any very rare phenomena, not only lensing events, with a broad array of instruments almost immediately after they have changed their brightness., Comment: 7 pages, 2 Figures; plain TeX. PostScript figures are available via anonymous ftp from sirius.astrouw.edu.pl (148.81.8.1) directory /ogle/ews/fig?.ps

We present the analysis of the first two years of the OGLE search for gravitational lenses towards the Galactic bulge. We detected 9 microlensing events in an algorithmic search of $ \sim 10^8 $ measurements of $ \sim 10^6 $ stars. The characteristic time scales are in the range $ 8.6 < t_0 < 62 $ days, where $ t_0 = R_E / V $. The distribution of amplitudes is consistent with theoretical expectation. The stars seem to be drawn at random from the overall distribution of the observed bulge stars. We find that the optical depth to microlensing is larger than $ ( 3.3 \pm 1.2 ) \times 10^{-6}$, in excess of current theoretical estimates., Comment: 19 pages, uses AAS LaTeX aaspp.sty macro. Full paper as appears in Acta Astronomica 44, 165 (12 figures, 3 tables) in gziped Postscript form (430kB) is available via anonymous ftp from sirius.astrouw.edu.pl (148.81.8.1) directory /ogle as paper_eff.ps.gz

The analysis of the first two years of OGLE data revealed 9 microlensing events of the galactic bulge stars, with the characteristic time scales in the range $ 8.6 < t_0 < 62 $ days, where $ t_0 = R_E / V $. The optical depth to microlensing is larger than $ ( 3.3 \pm 1.2 ) \times 10^{-6}$, in excess of current theoretical estimates, indicating a much higher efficiency for microlensing by either bulge or disk lenses. We argue that the lenses are likely to be ordinary stars in the galactic bar, which has its long axis elongated towards us. A relation between $ t_0 $ and the lens masses remains unknown until a quantitative model of bar microlensing becomes available. At this time we have no evidence that the OGLE events are related to dark matter. The geometry of lens distribution can be determined observationally when the microlensing rate is measured over a larger range of galactic longitudes, like $ -10^o < l < +10^o $, and the relative proper motions of the galactic bulge (bar) stars are measured with the HST., Comment: 10 pages, 2 figures, revised version accepted for the publication in ApJL, uses AAS LaTeX aaspp.sty macro, PostScript figures and PostScript version of the paper available through anonymous ftp from astro.princeton.edu, directory stanek/tau, or on request

The color-magnitude diagram of $ \sim 3 \times 10^5 $ stars obtained for Baade's Window towards the Galactic bulge with the OGLE project reveals a surprisingly narrow main sequence due to galactic disk stars at a distance of $d \sim 2 $ kpc, i.e. at the location of the Sagittarius spiral arm. A more careful analysis indicates there is an excess in the number of disk stars by a factor $\sim 2$ between us and $d \sim 2.5$ kpc and a rapid drop by a factor $\sim 10$ beyond that distance. It is unlikely that the observed structure is an artifact of the interstellar extinction, but careful determination of the extinction is needed before the structure is firmly established. The narrow main sequence extends down to stars as faint as $M_{_V} \approx 7$, i.e. it is composed of old stars. This is not expected in a conventional disk model, or in a conventional model of a spiral structure. However, a strong concentration of old stars towards spiral arms has been noticed in some other galaxies, like M51 (Rix \& Rieke 1993), with the near infrared surface photometry. We have also found that the relative distribution of red clump and red giant stars in the Galactic bulge implies that there is a relatively young stellar population present there., Comment: 14 pages, 8 figures, uses AAS LaTeX aaspp.sty macro, PostScript figures available through the anonymous ftp or on request, accepted for publication in the Astronomical Journal

With SIM, we will break the microlensing degeneracy, and allow detailed interpretation of individual microlensing events. We will thus develop a detailed census of the dark and luminous stellar population of the Galaxy.

Models of stationary, axisymmetric, non-self-gravitating tori around stellar mass Kerr black holes are calculated. Such objects may form as a result of a merger between two neutron stars, a neutron star and a stellar mass black hole, or a 'failed supernova' collapse of a single rapidly rotating star. We explore a large range of parameters: the black hole mass and angular momentum, the torus mass, angular momentum and entropy. Physical conditions within the tori are similar to those in young and hot neutron stars, but their topology is different, and the range of masses and energies is much larger.

Surface brightness maps for thin accretion disks around Schwarzschild and Kerr black holes are presented. These disks are a few times smaller than those used by Rauch and Blandford (1991), and some of the present models are slightly less luminous than theirs. Example of microlensed light curves are calculated by convolving these accretion disk maps with the magnification patterns obtained from microlensing calculations. The light curves exhibit eventlike variations with amplitudes and time scales comparable to those observed in QSO 2237 + 0305. It is concluded that thin thermal accretion disk models are not in contradiction with the observed microlens-induced variations of QSO 2237 + 0305.

Typical light curves and the corresponding color curves are shown for the present model of QSO 2237 + 0305 A, the image that has been reported to vary. Probabilities are presented for color changes of certain amplitudes as functions of the observed magnitude changes for different intervals between the two observational epochs, different source sizes, and different source size ratios. It may be possible to find the ratio of the continuum source sizes in the two color bands, once a color change correlated with a continuum change is found.

The rate of collisions between the neutron stars is about 0.0001/yr in the galaxy and about 0.00001/yr within the Hubble distance. The collisions are the final phases of binary orbit decay driven by gravitational radiation and may produce gamma-ray bursts detectable at extragalactic distances. If strange stars exist then their collisions must release about 10 to the 50th ergs in gamma rays over 0.2 s. Such events should be detectable out to 1 Gpc with the current instruments. The distance to the majority of gamma-ray bursts is not known at this time. The Burst and Transient Source Experiment (BATSE) on Gamma Ray Observatory should determine the distance scale by determining the angular distribution of very weak bursts. If the majority of gamma-ray bursts turn out to be extragalactic, and if their distances are about 1 Gpc, then the collisions between strange stars may be the least speculative events that might account for so energetic bursts.

The optical depth to microlensing on the ordinary disk stars is about 4 x 10 to the -7th for the Galactic bulge stars visible in Baade's window. This means that at any given time one out of about 2.5 x 10 to the 6th bulge stars must be brightened by at least 0.3 mag. The duration of events is proportional to the square root of mass of the lensing star, and it is in the range of 1 week to 1 month for the lensing stars of 0.1-1.0 solar mass. The average number of events with the amplitude exceeding 0.3 mag is expected to be about 4 per year per million bulge stars. If there are brown dwarfs in the Galactic disk with masses in the range 0.01-0.1 solar mass, with the total mass density equal to the total mass density of the ordinary stars, then the combined optical depth to microlensing of the bulge stars is about 8 x 10 to the -7th, the average number of events with the amplitude exceeding 0.3 mag is expected to be about 17 per year per million bulge stars, and the time scales of events are in the range of 3-20 days.

A model of microlensing for image A of the gravitationally lensed QSO 2237 + 0305 for which Irwin et al. reported in 1989 an increase of the apparent luminosity by about 0.5 mag on a time scale of a few months is presented. The model, with the Salpeter mass function over the mass range of 0.1-1.0 solar mass and the transverse velocity of the lens (or observer) of 600 km/s, can reproduce the reported luminosity variation if the source of the optical continuum has a radius smaller than about 2 x 10 to the 15th cm. This size is compatible with the accretion disk interpretation of the big ultraviolet bump in quasar spectra. The model demonstrates a very large diversity of light curves while the source crosses individual microcaustics or clusters of microcaustics. It will take more than 100 yr before the full variety of light curves will be sampled by the observations.

Models of microlensing are presented for the four images of QSO 2237 + 0305, with the surface mass density and shear for each image based on the macrolensing model developed by Schneider et al. (1988). The computations were done with a new code that makes use of the hierarchical tree method. The high efficiency of this approach makes it possible to include up to 60,000 lensing stars with different masses. Examples are given of amplification maps, light curves, correlation functions, and amplification probabilities. All these are very strongly affected by the shear due to macrolensing. The observed changes in the luminosity of the four images of QSO 2237 + 0305 are most likely induced by microlensing.