Related papers: Microlensing towards LMC and M31
We combine new results from the search for microlensing towards the Large Magellanic Cloud (LMC) by EROS2 (Experience de Recherche d'Objets Sombres) with limits previously reported by EROS1 and EROS2 towards both Magellanic Clouds. The…
Models of our galaxy based on dynamical observations predict a spheroid component much heavier than accounted for by direct measurements of star counts and high velocity stars. If, as first suggested by Caldwell and Ostriker, this…
We provide a set of microlensing optical depth maps for M31. Optical depths towards Andromeda were calculated on the basis of a four component model of the lens and source populations: disk and bulge sources lensed by bulge, M31 halo and…
The main aim of microlensing experiments is to evaluate the mean mass of massive compact halo objects (MACHOs) and the mass fraction of the Galactic halo made by this type of dark matter. Statistical analysis shows that by considering a…
The historical microlensing surveys MACHO, EROS, MOA and OGLE (hereafter summarized in the MEMO acronym) have searched for microlensing toward the LMC for a total duration of 27 years. We have studied the potential of joining all databases…
We investigated the dependence of the optical depth $\tau$ of the microlensing events on model parameters of the Galactic halo. We only consider Galactic mass models in which the rotation curve inside the Sun is compatible with the…
Microlensing results towards the LMC strongly depend on the properties of both the luminous and the dark matter distribution in the Galaxy. The two main sources of uncertainty come from the poor knowledge of the rotation curve at large…
The initial results of microlensing surveys toward the Galactic bulge and the LMC are puzzling. Toward the LMC, the total mass in MACHOs is of order half that required to explain the dark matter, but the estimated MACHO mass (~0.4 Msun) is…
January 2000 completes the first season of intensive, wide-field observations of microlensing and stellar variability in M31 by MEGA (Microlensing Exploration of the Galaxy and Andromeda) at the Isaac Newton 2.5m Telescope, the KPNO 4m, and…
(Abridged version): The optical depth is widely used in Galactic microlensing studies as a means to determine the density of MACHOs, since in theory it depends only upon their spatial distribution and is therefore less model-dependent than…
The simplest interpretation of the microlensing events observed towards the Large Magellanic Clouds is that approximately half of the mass of the Milky Way halo is in the form of MAssive Compact Halo Objects with $M \sim 0.5 M_{\odot}$. It…
Microlensing and pixel-lensing surveys play a fundamental role in the searches for galactic dark matter and in the study of the galactic structure. Recent observations suggest the presence of a population of old white dwarfs with high…
Microlensing has established itself as a powerful new method for the detection of baryonic dark matter in the Galaxy. The theory of microlensing is sketched and its similarity with the optical effect of twinkling is explained. The bulk of…
After a decade of gravitational microlensing experiments, 13 to 17 events by MACHO (depending on quality) and two events by EROS have been detected. All of those have been observed in the direction of Large Magellanic Cloud. We use Evans…
Microlensing surveys search for the transient brightening of a background star that is the signature of gravitational lensing by a foreground compact object. This technique is an elegant way to search for astrophysical candidates that might…
Microlensing searches aim to detect compact halo dark matter via its gravitational lensing effect on stars within the Large Magellanic Cloud. The most recent results have led to the claim that roughly one fifth of the galactic halo dark…
The microlensing surveys MACHO, EROS, MOA and OGLE (hereafter called MEMO) have searched for microlensing toward the Large Magellanic Cloud for a cumulated duration of 27 years. We study the potential of joining these databases to search…
The observations of microlensing events in the Large Magellanic Cloud suggest that a sizable fraction ($\sim$ 50%) of the galactic halo is in the form of MACHOs (Massive Astrophysical Compact Halo Objects) with an average mass $\sim 0.27…
EROS has been monitoring few million stars in the Magellanic clouds, as well as toward the Galactic bulge and spiral arms since 1996, to search for microlensing events. In this paper, we present briefly the EROS setup and scientific program…
If the massive compact halo object (MACHO) fraction of the Galactic dark halo is f ~ 20% as suggested by some microlensing experiments, then about 1.2% of lensing events toward the Galactic bulge are due to MACHOs. For the 40% of these that…