KMT-2016-BLG-1107: A New Hollywood-Planet Close/Wide Degeneracy


Abstract in English

We show that microlensing event KMT-2016-BLG-1107 displays a new type of degeneracy between wide-binary and close-binary Hollywood events in which a giant-star source envelops the planetary caustic. The planetary anomaly takes the form of a smooth, two-day bump far out on the falling wing of the light curve, which can be interpreted either as the source completely enveloping a minor-image caustic due to a close companion with mass ratio $q=0.036$, or partially enveloping a major-image caustic due to a wide companion with $q=0.004$. The best estimates of the companion masses are both in the planetary regime ($3.3^{+3.5}_{-1.8},M_{rm jup}$ and $0.090^{+0.096}_{-0.037},M_{rm jup}$) but differ by an even larger factor than the mass ratios due to different inferred host masses. We show that the two solutions can be distinguished by high-resolution imaging at first light on next-generation (30m) telescopes. We provide analytic guidance to understand the conditions under which this new type of degeneracy can appear.

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