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arXiv 1005.0673astro-ph.GAastro-ph.SR
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利用微透镜类星体探测Milky Way的结构

Using microlensed quasars to probe the structure of the Milky Way

Jian Wang, Martin C. Smith

摘要:

本文研究了银河系中恒星和恒星残骸对类星体的引力微透镜效应。我们提出的全天空微透镜光学深度,时间尺度分布和事件率为未来大面积的天空调查的预测。正如预期的那样,总事件率随着震级极限的增加而迅速增加,反映了类星体的数量密度是震级的陡峭函数的事实。像Pan-STARRS和LSST这样的调查每年应该能够检测到十多个事件,典型的事件持续时间大约为一个月。由于类星体源的微透镜比银河系源的透镜具有更少的简并性,它们可以作为一种强大的工具,以一种强大的,通常是独立于模型的方式恢复透镜物体的质量。因此,对于这些事件的一个子集,将有可能通过高阶微透镜效应和/或透镜星的高精度天体测量观测(例如使用盖亚或SIM-lite)直接“称重”引起透镜信号的恒星(或恒星残骸)。这意味着这些事件可能在恒星天文学中发挥关键作用。考虑到Pan-STARRS和LSST目前的运行时间表,到本十年末,它们可能会探测到多达100个事件。虽然这仍然是太少的事件,对银河系模型的详细限制,一致性检查可以进行,这样的样本可能会导致令人兴奋的和意想不到的发现。

英文摘要:

This paper presents an investigation into the gravitational microlensing of quasars by stars and stellar remnants in the Milky Way. We present predictions for the all-sky microlensing optical depth, time-scale distributions and event rates for future large-area sky surveys. As expected, the total event rate increases rapidly with increasing magnitude limit, reflecting the fact that the number density of quasars is a steep function of magnitude. Surveys such as Pan-STARRS and LSST should be able to detect more than ten events per year, with typical event durations of around one month. Since microlensing of quasar sources suffers from fewer degeneracies than lensing of Milky Way sources, they could be used as a powerful tool for recovering the mass of the lensing object in a robust, often model-independent, manner. As a consequence, for a subset of these events it will be possible to directly `weigh' the star (or stellar remnant) that is causing the lensing signal, either through higher order microlensing effects and/or high-precision astrometric observations of the lens star (using, for example, Gaia or SIM-lite). This means that such events could play a crucial role in stellar astronomy. Given the current operational timelines for Pan-STARRS and LSST, by the end of the decade they could potentially detect up to 100 events. Although this is still too few events to place detailed constraints on Galactic models, consistency checks can be carried out and such samples could lead to exciting and unexpected discoveries.

机构、总结、中文摘要均由AI分析而来,可能存在错误,请以论文正文为准。

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