Microlensing of close binary stars

Abstract

The gravity due to a multiple-mass system has a remarkable gravitational effect: the extreme magnification of background light sources along extended so-called caustic lines. This property has been the channel for some remarkable astrophysical discoveries over the past decade, including the detection and characterization of extrasolar planets, the routine analysis of limb darkening, and, in one case, limits set on the apparent shape of a star several kiloparsec distant. In this paper, we investigate the properties of the microlensing of close binary star systems. We show that in some cases it is possible to detect flux from the Roche lobes of close binary stars. Such observations could constrain models of close binary stellar systems. © 2008 RAS.