POINT-AGAPE Pixel Lensing Survey of M31 : Evidence for a MACHO contribution to Galactic Halos

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dc.creatorNovati, S. Calchi
dc.creatorPaulin-Henriksson, S.
dc.creatorAn, J.
dc.creatorBaillon, P.
dc.creatorBelokurov, V.
dc.creatorCarr, B. J.
dc.creatorCreze, M.
dc.creatorEvans, N. W.
dc.creatorGiraud-Heraud, Y.
dc.creatorGould, A.
dc.creatorHewett, P.
dc.creatorJetzer, Ph.
dc.creatorKaplan, J.
dc.creatorKerins, E.
dc.creatorSmartt, S. J.
dc.creatorStalin, C. S.
dc.creatorTsapras, Y.
dc.creatorWeston, M. J.
dc.date2005-04-07
dc.date2005-11-18
dc.date.accessioned2026-07-07T11:03:50Z
dc.date.available2026-07-07T11:03:50Z
dc.descriptionThe POINT-AGAPE collaboration is carrying out a search for gravitational microlensing toward M31 to reveal galactic dark matter in the form of MACHOs (Massive Astrophysical Compact Halo Objects) in the halos of the Milky Way and M31. A high-threshold analysis of 3 years of data yields 6 bright, short--duration microlensing events, which are confronted to a simulation of the observations and the analysis. The observed signal is much larger than expected from self lensing alone and we conclude, at the 95% confidence level, that at least 20% of the halo mass in the direction of M31 must be in the form of MACHOs if their average mass lies in the range 0.5-1 M$_\odot$. This lower bound drops to 8% for MACHOs with masses $\sim 0.01$ M$_\odot$. In addition, we discuss a likely binary microlensing candidate with caustic crossing. Its location, some 32' away from the centre of M31, supports our conclusion that we are detecting a MACHO signal in the direction of M31.
dc.identifierhttps://arxiv.org/abs/astro-ph/0504188
dc.identifierhttp://arxiv.org/abs/astro-ph/0504188
dc.identifierAstron.Astrophys.443:911,2005
dc.identifierdoi:10.1051/0004-6361:20053135
dc.identifier.urihttp://salesiana.dossiersoluciones.com/handle/123456789/188685
dc.subjectAstrophysics
dc.titlePOINT-AGAPE Pixel Lensing Survey of M31 : Evidence for a MACHO contribution to Galactic Halos
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