The MACHO Project Large Magellanic Cloud microlensing results from the first two years and the nature of the galactic dark halo
- Lawrence Livermore National Laboratory, Livermore, California 94550 (United States)
- Supercomputing Facility, Australian National University, Canberra, ACT 0200 (Australia)
- Mount Stromlo and Siding Spring Observatories, Australian National University, Weston, ACT 2611 (Australia)
- Center for Particle Astrophysics, University of California, Berkeley, California 94720 (United States)
The MACHO Project is a search for dark matter in the form of massive compact halo objects (MACHOs). Photometric monitoring of millions of stars in the Large Magellanic Cloud (LMC), Small Magellanic Cloud (SMC), and Galactic bulge is used to search for gravitational microlensing events caused by these otherwise invisible objects. Analysis of the first 2.1 yr of photometry of 8.5 million stars in the LMC reveals eight candidate microlensing events. This is substantially more than the number expected ({approximately}1.1) from lensing by known stellar populations. The timescales (t) of the events range from 34 to 145 days. We estimate the total microlensing optical depth toward the LMC from events with 2{lt}{cflx t}{lt}200 days to be {tau}{sub 2}{sup 200}=2.9{sub {minus}0.9}{sup +1.4}{times}10{sup {minus}7} based upon our eight event sample. This exceeds the optical depth, {tau}{sub backgnd}=0.5{times}10{sup {minus}7}, expected from known stars, and the difference is to be compared with the optical depth predicted for a {open_quotes}standard{close_quotes} halo composed entirely of MACHOs: {tau}{sub halo}=4.7{times}10{sup {minus}7}. To compare with Galactic halo models, we perform likelihood analyses on the full eight-event sample and a six-event subsample (which allows for two events to be caused by a nonhalo {open_quotes}background{close_quotes}). This gives a fairly model-independent estimate of the halo mass in MACHOs within 50 kpc of 2.0{sub {minus}0.7}{sup +1.2}{times}10{sup 11}M{sub {circle_dot}}, which is about half of the {open_quotes}standard halo{close_quotes} value. We also find a most probable MACHO mass of 0.5{sub {minus}0.2}{sup +0.3}M{sub {circle_dot}}, although this value is strongly model dependent. In addition, the absence of short duration events places stringent upper limits on the contribution of low-mass MACHOs: objects from 10{sup {minus}4}M{sub {circle_dot}} to 0.03M{sub {circle_dot}} contribute {approx_lt}20{percent} of the {open_quotes}standard{close_quotes} dark halo. {copyright} {ital 1997} {ital The American Astronomical Society}
- Research Organization:
- Lawrence Livermore National Lab. (LLNL), Livermore, CA (United States)
- DOE Contract Number:
- W-7405-ENG-48
- OSTI ID:
- 628715
- Journal Information:
- Astrophysical Journal, Vol. 486, Issue 2; Other Information: PBD: Sep 1997
- Country of Publication:
- United States
- Language:
- English
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