REMOVING DEGENERACY OF MICROLENSING LIGHT CURVES THROUGH NARROW-BAND PHOTOMETRY OF GIANTS

Abstract

The standard light curve of a microlensing event provides only two constraints on the six unknown parameters of the lens. We show that narrow-band photometry during a microlensing event of a giant star can in addition determine the angular radius of the Einstein ring and the proper motion of the lens. This possibility results from the fact that the extended atmospheres of giants emit the cores of resonant lines primarily from a narrow ring (limb brightening). The radius of the emission ring can be determined to a precision of 20% by detailed spectroscopic observations of the source after the lensing event has ended. A considerable fraction of the clump giant stars in the bulge have a ring radius >10^{12} cm, within the range of Einstein radii for sub-solar mass lenses. The extended thin ring also provides a sensitive probe of possible planetary companions as it sweeps across the lens plane. The ring signature can be detected photometrically, using a narrow-band filter centered on the CaII K line at 3933 A.