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    MOA-2022-BLG-091Lb and KMT-2024-BLG-1209Lb: Microlensing planets detected through weak caustic-crossing signals
    (EDP Sciences, 2025-07-01) Han C; Lee C-U; Udalski A; Bond IA; Yang H; Albrow MD; Chung S-J; Gould A; Jung YK; Hwang K-H; Ryu Y-H; Shvartzvald Y; Shin I-G; Yee JC; Zang W; Inyanya T; Cha S-M; Kim D; Kim D-J; Kim S-L; Lee D-J; Lee Y; Park B-G; Pogge RW; Mróz P; Szymański MK; Skowron J; Poleski R; Soszyński I; Pietrukowicz P; Kozłowski S; Rybicki KA; Iwanek P; Ulaczyk K; Wrona M; Gromadzki M; Mróz MJ; Jaroszyński M; Kiraga M; Abe F; Bando K; Bennett DP; Bhattacharya A; Fukui A; Hamada R; Hamada S; Hamasaki N; Hirao Y; Ishitani Silva S; Koshimoto N; Matsubara Y; Miyazaki S; Muraki Y; Nagai T; Nunota K; Olmschenk G; Ranc C; Rattenbury NJ; Satoh Y; Sumi T; Suzuki D; Terry SK; Tristram PJ; Vandorou A; Yama H; Tang Y; Mao S; Maoz D; Zhu W
    Aims. The light curves of the microlensing events MOA-2022-BLG-091 and KMT-2024-BLG-1209 exhibit anomalies with very similar features. These anomalies appear near the peaks of the light curves, where the magnifications are moderately high, and are distinguished by weak caustic-crossing features with minimal distortion while the source remains inside the caustic. To achieve a deeper understanding of these anomalies, we conducted a comprehensive analysis of the lensing events. Methods. We carried out binary-lens modeling with a thorough exploration of the parameter space. This analysis revealed that the anomalies in both events are of planetary origin, although their exact interpretation is complicated by different types of degeneracy. In the case of MOA-2022-BLG-091, the main difficulty in the interpretation of the anomaly arises from a newly identified degeneracy related to the uncertain angle at which the source trajectory intersects the planet host axis. For KMT-2024-BLG-1209, the interpretation is affected by the previously known inner-outer degeneracy, which leads to ambiguity between solutions in which the source passes through either the inner or outer caustic region relative to the planet host. Results. Bayesian analysis indicates that the planets in both lens systems are giant planets with masses about two to four times that of Jupiter, orbiting early K-type main-sequence stars. Both systems are likely located in the Galactic disk at a distance of around 4 kiloparsecs. The degeneracy in KMT-2024-BLG-1209 is challenging to resolve because it stems from intrinsic similarities in the caustic structures of the degenerate solutions. In contrast, the degeneracy in MOA-2022-BLG-091, which occurs by chance rather than from inherent characteristics, is expected to be resolved by the future space based Roman RGES microlensing survey.
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    OGLE-2015-BLG-1609Lb: A sub-Jovian planet orbiting a low-mass stellar or brown dwarf host
    (EDP Sciences, 2025-05-01) Mróz MJ; Poleski R; Udalski A; Sumi T; Tsapras Y; Hundertmark M; Pietrukowicz P; Szymański MK; Skowron J; Mróz P; Gromadzki M; Iwanek P; Kozłowski S; Ratajczak M; Rybicki KA; Skowron DM; Soszyński I; Ulaczyk K; Wrona M; Abe F; Bando K; Bennett DP; Bhattacharya A; Bond IA; Fukui A; Hamada R; Hamada S; Hamasaki N; Hirao Y; Ishitani Silva S; Itow Y; Koshimoto N; Matsubara Y; Miyazaki S; Muraki Y; Nagai T; Nunota K; Olmschenk G; Ranc C; Rattenbury NJ; Satoh Y; Suzuki D; Terry SK; Tristram PJ; Vandorou A; Yama H; Street RA; Bachelet E; Dominik M; Cassan A; Figuera Jaimes R; Horne K; Schmidt R; Snodgrass C; Wambsganss J; Steele IA; Menzies J; Jørgensen UG; Longa-Peña P; Peixinho N; Skottfelt J; Southworth J; Andersen MI; Bozza V; Burgdorf MJ; D’Ago G; Hinse TC; Kerins E; Korhonen H; Kuffmeier M; Mancini L; Rabus M; Rahvar S
    We present a comprehensive analysis of the planetary microlensing event OGLE-2015-BLG-1609. The planetary anomaly was detected by two survey telescopes, OGLE and MOA. Both surveys collected enough data over the planetary anomaly to enable an unambiguous planet detection. Such survey detections of planetary anomalies are needed to build a robust sample of planets, which could improve studies on the microlensing planetary occurrence rate by reducing biases and statistical uncertainties. In this work we examined different methods for modeling microlensing events using individual datasets. In particular, we incorporated a Galactic model prior to better constrain the poorly defined microlensing parallax. Ultimately, we fitted a comprehensive model to all available data, identifying three potential topologies, with two showing comparably high Bayesian evidence. Our analysis indicates that the host of the planet is either a brown dwarf, with a probability of 34%, or a low-mass stellar object (M dwarf), with a probability of 66%. The topology that provides the best fit to the data results in an extraordinary low host mass, Mh = 0.025+0.050-0.012M⊙, accompanied by an Earth-mass planet with Mc = 1.9+3.9-1.0M⊕.
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    Systematic reanalysis of KMTNet microlensing events, paper I: Updates of the photometry pipeline and a new planet candidate
    (Oxford University Press on behalf of the Royal Astronomical Society., 2024-02-01) Yang H; Yee JC; Hwang K-H; Qian Q; Bond IA; Gould A; Hu Z; Zhang J; Mao S; Zhu W; Albrow MD; Chung S-J; Kim S-L; Park B-G; Han C; Jung YK; Ryu Y-H; Shin I-G; Shvartzvald Y; Cha S-M; Kim D-J; Kim H-W; Lee C-U; Lee D-J; Lee Y; Pogge RW; Zang W; Abe F; Barry R; Bennett DP; Bhattacharya A; Donachie M; Fujii H; Fukui A; Hirao Y; Itow Y; Kirikawa R; Kondo I; Koshimoto N; Silva SI; Li MCA; Matsubara Y; Muraki Y; Suzuki D; Tristram PJ; Yonehara A; Ranc C; Miyazaki S; Olmschenk G; Rattenbury NJ; Satoh Y; Shoji H; Sumi T; Tanaka Y; Yamawaki T
    In this work, we update and develop algorithms for KMTNet tender-love care (TLC) photometry in order to create a new, mostly automated, TLC pipeline. We then start a project to systematically apply the new TLC pipeline to the historic KMTNet microlensing events, and search for buried planetary signals. We report the discovery of such a planet candidate in the microlensing event MOA-2019-BLG-421/KMT-2019-BLG-2991. The anomalous signal can be explained by either a planet around the lens star or the orbital motion of the source star. For the planetary interpretation, despite many degenerate solutions, the planet is most likely to be a Jovian planet orbiting an M or K dwarf, which is a typical microlensing planet. The discovery proves that the project can indeed increase the sensitivity of historic events and find previously undiscovered signals.