Recent Developments in Gravitational Microlensing

TL;DR

Gravitational microlensing has evolved over 21 years from a dark matter search tool to a versatile astronomical technique, detecting planets, resolving stellar surfaces, and revealing new phenomena.

Contribution

This paper provides a comprehensive overview of recent advancements and diverse applications of gravitational microlensing, highlighting its expanding role in astronomy.

Findings

Detected 12 exoplanets, including inaccessible ones

Resolved surfaces of distant stars

Uncovered surprising microlensing phenomena

Abstract

Twenty-one years after Bohdan's seminal paper launched the field of gravitational microlensing, it has radically diversified from a method narrowly focused on finding dark matter to a very general astronomical tool. Microlensing has now detected 12 planets, including several that are inaccessible by other search methods. It has resolved the surfaces of distant stars, served as a magnifying glass to take spectra of extremely faint objects, and revealed a number of surprising phenomena. I take a sweeping look at this remarkable technique, giving equal weight to its successes and to the tensions that are continuing to propel it forward.