Astronomy and Astrophysics – Astrophysics
Scientific paper
2004-09-07
Astronomy and Astrophysics
Astrophysics
To appear in Proceedings of IAU Symposium 225: Impact of Gravitational Lensing on Cosmology, 6 pages
Scientific paper
10.1017/S1743921305002164
We present the first results from our next-generation microlensing survey, the SuperMACHO project. We are using the CTIO 4m Blanco telescope and the MOSAIC imager to carry out a search for microlensing toward the Large Magellanic Cloud (LMC). We plan to ascertain the nature of the population responsible for the excess microlensing rate seen by the MACHO project. Our observing strategy is optimized to measure the differential microlensing rate across the face of the LMC. We find this derivative to be relatively insensitive to the details of the LMC's internal structure but a strong discriminant between Galactic halo and LMC self lensing. In December 2003 we completed our third year of survey operations. 2003 also marked the first year of real-time microlensing alerts and photometric and spectroscopic followup. We have extracted several dozen microlensing candidates, and we present some preliminary light curves and related information. Similar to the MACHO project, we find SNe behind the LMC to be a significant contaminant - this background has not been completely removed from our current single-color candidate sample. Our follow-up strategy is optimized to discriminate between SNe and true microlensing.
Aguilera Claudio
Becker Andrew C.
Clocchiatti Alejandro
Cook Kem H.
Covarrubias Ricardo
No associations
LandOfFree
The SuperMACHO Microlensing Survey 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 The SuperMACHO Microlensing Survey, we encourage you to share that experience with our LandOfFree.com community. Your opinion is very important and The SuperMACHO Microlensing Survey will most certainly appreciate the feedback.
Profile ID: LFWR-SCP-O-532569