English

Gaia20fnr: A binary-lens microlensing event with full orbital motion revealed by four space telescopes

Solar and Stellar Astrophysics 2026-01-27 v2

Abstract

The microlensing event Gaia20fnr is a long-duration, non-caustic-crossing binary-lens event at high Galactic latitude. Triggered by a photometric rise detected by the Gaia space mission, the event was followed up with observations from multiple ground-based facilities and four space telescopes: Gaia, NEOWISE, Swift, and TESS. We characterize the Gaia20fnr microlensing system by determining the physical and orbital properties of the binary lens, the nature of the luminous source, and the kinematics of both the source and the lens. We employed a binary-lens microlensing model including full Keplerian orbital motion and annual microlens parallax to fit the photometric data. The event is best explained by a K2 giant source at DS=3.10±0.10kpcD_{\rm S} = 3.10 \pm 0.10\,\mathrm{kpc} lensed by a stellar binary composed of ML,1=0.46±0.06MM_{\rm L,1} = 0.46 \pm 0.06\,M_\odot and ML,2=0.52±0.06MM_{\rm L,2} = 0.52 \pm 0.06\,M_\odot at a distance of DL=0.54±0.05kpcD_{\rm L} = 0.54 \pm 0.05\,\mathrm{kpc}. The light curve exhibits strong signatures of orbital motion and requires a full Keplerian model with a period of P=0.67±0.04yrP = 0.67 \pm 0.04\,\mathrm{yr} and a radial-velocity semi-amplitude of K1=16.9±0.9kms1K_1 = 16.9 \pm 0.9\,\mathrm{km\,s^{-1}}. Gaia20fnr is one of the few microlensing events for which a complete Keplerian binary-lens solution has been derived. The model can be tested with follow-up radial-velocity and high-resolution imaging observations as well as forthcoming Gaia DR4 and DR5 astrometric time-series data. Its long duration, multi-peak structure, and extensive coverage make it a benchmark for studying faint nearby low-mass binaries through microlensing.

Keywords

Cite

@article{arxiv.2601.15969,
  title  = {Gaia20fnr: A binary-lens microlensing event with full orbital motion revealed by four space telescopes},
  author = {M. Wicker and Ł. Wyrzykowski and M. Hundertmark and K. A. Rybicki and P. Zieliński and E. Stonkutė and N. Ihanec and M. Maskoliūnas and E. Bachelet and K. Kruszyńska and M. Dominik and D. A. H. Buckley and I. Gezer and M. Gromadzki and P. Mikołajczyk and K. Kotysz and J. Majumdar and E. Pakštienė and J. Zdanavičius and V. Čepas and U. Jonauskaitė and V. Bozza and A. Cassan and R. Figuera Jaimes and M. Rabus and P. Rota and R. A. Street and Y. Tsapras and J. Wambsganss and S. Awiphan and S. M. Brincat and Z. Budzik and J. W. Davidson and R. Dymock and C. Galdies and V. Godunova and F. -J. Hambsch and M. Jabłonska and T. Kvernadze and M. Larma and M. Makowska and Y. Markus and J. Merc and O. Michniewicz and M. Motylinski and A. Popowicz and M. Radziwonowicz and D. Reichart and A. O. Simon and P. Trzcionkowski and M. Zejmo and S. Zola},
  journal= {arXiv preprint arXiv:2601.15969},
  year   = {2026}
}

Comments

22 pages, 11 figures, submitted to A&A on 22.01.2026