Related papers: Retro-MACHOs: Pi in the sky?
Retrolensing is a gravitational lensing effect in which light emitted by a background source is deflected by a black hole and redirected toward the observer after undergoing nearly complete loops around the black hole. In this context, we…
Recently considered a very attracting possibility to detect retro-MACHOs, i.e. retro-images of the Sun by a Schwarzschild black hole. In this paper we discuss glories (mirages) formed near rapidly rotating Kerr black hole horizons and…
The presence of a bright "photon ring" surrounding a dark "black hole shadow" has been discussed as an important feature of the observational appearance of emission originating near a black hole. We clarify the meaning and relevance of…
Gravitational lensing is a well known phenomenon predicted by the General Theory of Relativity. It is now a well-developed observational technique in astronomy and is considered to be a fundamental tool for acquiring information about the…
Recently Holz & Wheeler (2002) considered a very attracting possibility to detect retro-MACHOs, i.e. retro-images of the Sun by a Schwarzschild black hole. In this paper we discuss glories (mirages) formed near rapidly rotating Kerr black…
Holz & Wheeler (\cite{hw}) have recently proposed that a Schwarzschild black hole may act as a retro-lens which, if illuminated by a powerful light source, deflects light ray paths to large bending angles and a series of luminous arcs (or…
In general relativity, isolated black holes are invisible due to an infinitely large redshift of photons propagating from the event horizon to the remote observer. However, the dark shadow (silhouette) of a black hole can be visible on the…
We propose the existence of ultracompact minihalos as a new type of massive compact halo object (MACHO) and suggest an observational test to discover them. These new MACHOs are a powerful probe into the nature of dark matter and physics in…
We model the light-curves from radiation-driven clouds near an accreting black hole. Taking into account the multiple images due to strong gravitational lensing, we find that sharp spikes can significantly enhance the observed flux.…
Black holes are presumed to have an ideal ability to absorb and keep matter. Whatever comes close to the event horizon, a boundary separating the inside region of a black hole from the outside world, inevitably goes in and remains inside…
Black holes cannot be seen directly since they absorb light and emit none, the very quality which earned them their name. We suggest that black holes may be seen indirectly through a chaotic defocusing of light. A black hole can capture…
Seven observations point towards the existence of primordial black holes (PBH), constituting the whole or an important fraction of the dark matter in the Universe: the mass and spin of black holes detected by Advanced LIGO/VIRGO, the…
Gravitational microlensing has been employed to identify massive halo objects by their amplification of distant sources; MACHO searches have studied event times $2 h \lesssim t_0 \lesssim 2 y$ corresponding masses in the range $10^{-6}…
The failure to find evidence for elementary particles that could serve as the constituents of dark matter brings to mind suggestions that dark matter might consist of massive compact objects (MACHOs). In particular, it has recently been…
If the dark halo matter is primarily composed of MACHOs toward the lower end of the possible detection range ($ < 10^{-3}$ $M_{\odot}$) a fraction of the lens detection events should involve the lens crossing directly in front of the disk…
We investigate the shadow of an exact black hole solution of Einstein's equations recently proposed by Cardoso et al., to describe a supermassive black hole immersed in a dark matter halo. We analyze and discuss the light rings and the…
The POINT-AGAPE collaboration is carrying out a search for gravitational microlensing toward M31 to reveal galactic dark matter in the form of MACHOs (Massive Astrophysical Compact Halo Objects) in the halos of the Milky Way and M31. A…
To reveal the galactic dark matter in the form of MACHOs ("Massive Astrophysical Compact Halo Objects"), the POINT-AGAPE collaboration is carrying out a search for gravitational microlensing towards M31. A clear microlensing signal is…
The geometry of black hole spacetimes can be probed with exquisite precision in the gravitational-wave window, and possibly also in the optical regime. We study the accretion of bright spots -- objects which emit strongly in the optical or…
Radiation emitted near a black hole reaches the observer by multiple paths; and when this radiation varies in time, the time-delays between the various paths generate a "blinking" effect in the observed light curve L(t) or its…