Astronomy and Astrophysics – Astrophysics
Scientific paper
1999-09-17
Astronomy and Astrophysics
Astrophysics
Invited review for "Gravitational Lensing: Recent Progress and Future Goals", Boston University, July 1999, ed. T.G. Brainerd
Scientific paper
Ongoing microlensing surveys have already yielded more than five hundred microlensing events, most of which have been identified in real-time. In this review I present the basic theory and observational status of these surveys. I highlight the discoveries made so far - these include constraints on the dark matter content of the Galaxy, the structure and mass function of stars in the Galactic bulge and applications on stellar atmospheres and populations. I also briefly discuss the scientific returns (such as planet detection) from real-time photometric and spectroscopic follow-up surveys. With improved software algorithms and more powerful instrumentations, the number of microlensing events will be greatly increased in the future; the Space Interferometry Mission, on the other hand, provides the possibility to break the lens mass and distance degeneracy. I conclude that microlensing is developing into an exciting technique with diverse applications.
No associations
LandOfFree
Gravitational Microlensing: Past, Present and Future 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: Past, Present and Future, we encourage you to share that experience with our LandOfFree.com community. Your opinion is very important and Gravitational Microlensing: Past, Present and Future will most certainly appreciate the feedback.
Profile ID: LFWR-SCP-O-377130