Astronomy and Astrophysics – Astrophysics
Scientific paper
1996-04-02
Ann.Rev.Astron.Astrophys.34:419-459,1996
Astronomy and Astrophysics
Astrophysics
41 pages, latex, 13 figures, postscript version with figures available at http://www.astro.princeton.edu/~library/prep.html
Scientific paper
10.1146/annurev.astro.34.1.419
The status of searches for gravitational microlensing events of the stars in our galaxy and in other galaxies of the Local Group, the interpretation of the results, some theory, and prospects for the future are reviewed. The searches have already unveiled about 100 events, at least two of them caused by binaries, and have already proven to be useful for studies of the Galactic structure. The events detected so far are probably attributable to the effects of ordinary stars, and possibly to sub-stellar brown dwarfs; however a firm conclusion cannot be reached yet because the analysis published to date is based on a total of only 16 events. The current searches, soon to be upgraded, will probably allow determination of the mass function of stars and brown dwarfs in the next few years; these efforts will also provide good statistical information about binary systems, in particular their mass ratios. They may also reveal the nature of dark matter and allow us to detect planets and planetary mass objects.
No associations
LandOfFree
Gravitational Microlensing in the Local Group does not yet have a rating. At this time, there are no reviews or comments for this scientific paper.
If you have personal experience with Gravitational Microlensing in the Local Group, we encourage you to share that experience with our LandOfFree.com community. Your opinion is very important and Gravitational Microlensing in the Local Group will most certainly appreciate the feedback.
Profile ID: LFWR-SCP-O-123902