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Session 7 - Microlensing.
Display session, Monday, June 08
Atlas Ballroom,
We have investigated the trajectories of about 500 high-proper-motion stars through DSS and recently obtained CCD images, to look for possible microlensing of background stars. White dwarfs and brown dwarfs, being faint, are the best candidates to look for such effects. We found 3 white dwarf candidates which provide the best opportunity to look for image motion of the background stars due to microlensing. The background stars are typically brighter by about 1 magnitude compared to the high-proper motion dwarf. The image motion is expected to be of the order of > 50 micro arcsec, which can be clearly measured with the Space Interferometry Mission (SIM). The predicted events fall conveniently within the expected lifetime of SIM. The event times are known apriori. In combination with the parallax measurements, which can also be carried out by SIM, the measurement of image motion will enable direct determination of the mass of the white dwarfs to an accuracy of \sim 1%.
