A Search for Predicted Astrometric Microlensing Events by Nearby Brown Dwarfs

TL;DR

This paper introduces a novel method to predict astrometric microlensing events caused by nearby brown dwarfs without needing prior lens mass estimates, and applies it to a large catalog but finds no upcoming events.

Contribution

It develops a new prediction method for microlensing events that does not require lens mass estimates, enhancing detection prospects for brown dwarf masses.

Findings

No upcoming microlensing events were found in the search.

Estimated event rate for brown dwarfs is approximately 10^-5 per year.

Targeted searches in the Galactic Bulge and Plane are recommended.

Abstract

Gravitational microlensing has the potential to provide direct gravitational masses of single, free-floating brown dwarfs, independent of evolutionary and atmospheric models. The proper motions and parallaxes of nearby brown dwarfs can be used to predict close future alignments with distant background stars that cause a microlensing event. Targeted astrometric follow up of the predicted microlensing events permits the brown dwarf's mass to be measured. Predicted microlensing events are typically found via searching for a peak threshold signal using an estimate of the lens mass. We develop a novel method that finds predicted events that instead will lead to a target lens mass precision. The main advantage of our method is that it does not require a lens mass estimate. We use this method to search for predicted astrometric microlensing events occurring between 2014 - 2032 using a catalog of 1225 low mass star and brown dwarf lenses in the Solar Neighborhood of spectral type M6 or later and a background source catalog from DECaLS Data Release 9. The background source catalog extends to $g = $ 23.95, providing a more dense catalog compared to Gaia. Our search did not reveal any upcoming microlensing events. We estimate the rate of astrometric microlensing event for brown dwarfs in the Legacy Survey and find it to be low $\sim10^{-5}$yr$^{-1}$. We recommend carrying out targeted searches for brown dwarfs in front of the Galactic Bulge and Plane to find astrometric microlensing events that will allow the masses of single, free-floating brown dwarfs to be measured.