Using Source Proper Motion to Validate Terrestrial Parallax: OGLE-2019-BLG-1058

Abstract

We show that because the conditions for producing terrestrial microlens parallax (TPRX; i.e., a nearby disk lens) will also tend to produce a large lens-source relative proper motion (μ_(rel)), source proper motion (μ_S) measurements in general provide a strong test of TPRX signals, which Gould & Yee (2013) showed were an important probe of free-floating planet (FFP) candidates. As a case study, we report a single-lens/single-source microlensing event designated as OGLE-2019-BLG-1058. For this event, the short timescale (∼2.5 days) and very fast μ_(rel) (∼17.6 mas yr⁻¹) suggest that this isolated lens is an FFP candidate located in the disk of our Galaxy. For this event, we find a TPRX signal consistent with a disk FFP, but at low significance. A direct measurement of the μ_S shows that the large μ_(rel) is due to an extreme μ_S, and thus, the lens is consistent with being a very-low-mass star in the bulge and the TPRX measurement is likely spurious. By contrast, we show how a precise measurement of μ_S with the mean properties of the bulge proper motion distribution would have given the opposite result; i.e., provided supporting evidence for an FFP in the disk and the TPRX measurement.

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