The Magnified Waltz: Simulating Light Curves of Binary Stars Passing Through Microcaustics in Strong Lensing Galaxy Clusters
Individual stars located near the caustics of galaxy clusters can undergo extreme magnification when crossing microcaustics, rendering them observable even at cosmological distances. Though most massive stars are likely to reside in binary systems rather than as single star, the influence of a binar...
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IOP Publishing
2025-01-01
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| Series: | The Astrophysical Journal |
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| Online Access: | https://doi.org/10.3847/1538-4357/add72a |
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| author | Wenwen Zheng Xiaoting Fu Yang Chen Xuefei Chen Yanjun Guo Xuechun Chen Huanyuan Shan Guoliang Li |
| author_facet | Wenwen Zheng Xiaoting Fu Yang Chen Xuefei Chen Yanjun Guo Xuechun Chen Huanyuan Shan Guoliang Li |
| author_sort | Wenwen Zheng |
| collection | DOAJ |
| description | Individual stars located near the caustics of galaxy clusters can undergo extreme magnification when crossing microcaustics, rendering them observable even at cosmological distances. Though most massive stars are likely to reside in binary systems rather than as single star, the influence of a binary star system on magnification events is severely underexplored. In this work, we simulate the light curves produced by detached binary stars crossing microcaustics, aiming to characterize their unique observational signatures. Using high-resolution magnification maps generated by the GPU-PMO-CAUSTIC algorithm and PARSEC stellar models with red-shifted magnitude, we examined the impact of binary star parameters and crossing geometries on microlensing magnification patterns. Our simulations reveal that binary stars produce diverse light-curve features, including overlapping peaks, plateau-like structures, and time-variable color–magnitude differences. These features, particularly the distinct temporal variations in spectral energy distributions, offer diagnostic tools for distinguishing binary systems from single stars. We further demonstrate the potential of multiband photometry using the Chinese Space Station Telescope’s Multi-Channel Imager to capture these variations. Our findings provide theoretical support to identify binary systems in future caustic-crossing events, enabling more accurate characterization of high-redshift stellar populations. |
| format | Article |
| id | doaj-art-8783db7254a64abfbc2b5732420f8ce4 |
| institution | Kabale University |
| issn | 1538-4357 |
| language | English |
| publishDate | 2025-01-01 |
| publisher | IOP Publishing |
| record_format | Article |
| series | The Astrophysical Journal |
| spelling | doaj-art-8783db7254a64abfbc2b5732420f8ce42025-08-20T03:28:21ZengIOP PublishingThe Astrophysical Journal1538-43572025-01-0198719410.3847/1538-4357/add72aThe Magnified Waltz: Simulating Light Curves of Binary Stars Passing Through Microcaustics in Strong Lensing Galaxy ClustersWenwen Zheng0https://orcid.org/0000-0002-0478-3431Xiaoting Fu1https://orcid.org/0000-0002-6506-1985Yang Chen2https://orcid.org/0000-0002-3759-1487Xuefei Chen3https://orcid.org/0000-0001-5284-8001Yanjun Guo4https://orcid.org/0000-0001-9989-9834Xuechun Chen5https://orcid.org/0000-0001-9387-7343Huanyuan Shan6https://orcid.org/0000-0001-8534-837XGuoliang Li7Purple Mountain Observatory, Chinese Academy of Sciences , Nanjing, Jiangsu, 210023, People’s Republic of China ; guoliang@pmo.ac.cnPurple Mountain Observatory, Chinese Academy of Sciences , Nanjing, Jiangsu, 210023, People’s Republic of China ; guoliang@pmo.ac.cnSchool of Physics and Optoelectronic Engineering, Anhui University , Hefei, 230601, People’s Republic of ChinaYunnan Observatories, Chinese Academy of Sciences (CAS) , Kunming 650216, Yunnan, People’s Republic of China; School of Astronomy and Space Science, University of Chinese Academy of Sciences , Beijing, 100049, People’s Republic of ChinaYunnan Observatories, Chinese Academy of Sciences (CAS) , Kunming 650216, Yunnan, People’s Republic of ChinaInstitute for Frontier in Astronomy and Astrophysics, Beijing Normal University , Beijing, 102206, People’s Republic of China; School of Physics and Astronomy, Beijing Normal University , Beijing 100875, People’s Republic of ChinaShanghai Astronomical Observatory, Chinese Academy of Sciences , Shanghai, 200030, People’s Republic of ChinaPurple Mountain Observatory, Chinese Academy of Sciences , Nanjing, Jiangsu, 210023, People’s Republic of China ; guoliang@pmo.ac.cnIndividual stars located near the caustics of galaxy clusters can undergo extreme magnification when crossing microcaustics, rendering them observable even at cosmological distances. Though most massive stars are likely to reside in binary systems rather than as single star, the influence of a binary star system on magnification events is severely underexplored. In this work, we simulate the light curves produced by detached binary stars crossing microcaustics, aiming to characterize their unique observational signatures. Using high-resolution magnification maps generated by the GPU-PMO-CAUSTIC algorithm and PARSEC stellar models with red-shifted magnitude, we examined the impact of binary star parameters and crossing geometries on microlensing magnification patterns. Our simulations reveal that binary stars produce diverse light-curve features, including overlapping peaks, plateau-like structures, and time-variable color–magnitude differences. These features, particularly the distinct temporal variations in spectral energy distributions, offer diagnostic tools for distinguishing binary systems from single stars. We further demonstrate the potential of multiband photometry using the Chinese Space Station Telescope’s Multi-Channel Imager to capture these variations. Our findings provide theoretical support to identify binary systems in future caustic-crossing events, enabling more accurate characterization of high-redshift stellar populations.https://doi.org/10.3847/1538-4357/add72aGravitational lensingGravitational microlensingBinary stars |
| spellingShingle | Wenwen Zheng Xiaoting Fu Yang Chen Xuefei Chen Yanjun Guo Xuechun Chen Huanyuan Shan Guoliang Li The Magnified Waltz: Simulating Light Curves of Binary Stars Passing Through Microcaustics in Strong Lensing Galaxy Clusters The Astrophysical Journal Gravitational lensing Gravitational microlensing Binary stars |
| title | The Magnified Waltz: Simulating Light Curves of Binary Stars Passing Through Microcaustics in Strong Lensing Galaxy Clusters |
| title_full | The Magnified Waltz: Simulating Light Curves of Binary Stars Passing Through Microcaustics in Strong Lensing Galaxy Clusters |
| title_fullStr | The Magnified Waltz: Simulating Light Curves of Binary Stars Passing Through Microcaustics in Strong Lensing Galaxy Clusters |
| title_full_unstemmed | The Magnified Waltz: Simulating Light Curves of Binary Stars Passing Through Microcaustics in Strong Lensing Galaxy Clusters |
| title_short | The Magnified Waltz: Simulating Light Curves of Binary Stars Passing Through Microcaustics in Strong Lensing Galaxy Clusters |
| title_sort | magnified waltz simulating light curves of binary stars passing through microcaustics in strong lensing galaxy clusters |
| topic | Gravitational lensing Gravitational microlensing Binary stars |
| url | https://doi.org/10.3847/1538-4357/add72a |
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