Astronomy and Astrophysics – Astronomy
Scientific paper
Jul 2008
adsabs.harvard.edu/cgi-bin/nph-data_query?bibcode=2008hst..prop11707s&link_type=abstract
HST Proposal ID #11707. Cycle 17
Astronomy and Astrophysics
Astronomy
Scientific paper
This proposal aims to make the first detection of isolated stellar-mass black holes {BHs} in the Milky Way, and to determine their masses. Until now, the only directly measured BH masses have come from radial-velocity measurements of X-ray binaries. Our proposed method uses the astrometric shifts that occur when a Galactic-bulge microlensing event is caused by a BH lens. Out of the hundreds of bulge microlensing events found annually by the OGLE and MOA surveys, a few are found to have very long durations {>200 days}. It is generally believed that the majority of these long-duration events are caused by lenses that are isolated BHs. To test this hypothesis, we will carry out high-precision astrometry of 5 long-duration events, using the ACS/HRC camera. The expected astrometric signal from a BH lens is >1.4 mas, at least 7 times the demonstrated astrometric precision attainable with the HRC. This proposal will thus potentially lead to the first unambiguous detection of isolated stellar-mass BHs, and the first direct mass measurement for isolated stellar-mass BHs through any technique. Detection of several BHs will provide information on the frequency of BHs in the Galaxy, with implications for the slope of the IMF at high masses, the minimum mass of progenitors that produce BHs, and constraints on theoretical models of BH formation.;
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