Systematic Errors as a Source of Mass Discrepancy in Black Hole Microlensing Event OGLE-2011-BLG-0462

Abstract

Abstract Two independent groups reported the discovery of an isolated dark stellar remnant in the microlensing event OGLE-2011-BLG-0462 based on photometric ground-based observations coupled with astrometric measurements taken with the Hubble Space Telescope. These two analyses yielded discrepant mass measurements, with the first group reporting that the lensing object is a black hole of 7.1 ± 1.3 M ⊙ whereas the other concluded that the microlensing event was caused by either a neutron star or a low-mass black hole (1.6–4.4 M ⊙). Here, we scrutinize the available photometric and astrometric data and conclude that systematic errors are a cause of the discrepant measurements. We find that the lens is an isolated black hole with a mass of 7.88 ± 0.82 M ⊙ located at a distance of 1.49 ± 0.12 kpc. We also study the impact of blending on the accuracy of astrometric microlensing measurements. We find that low-level blending by source companions is a major, previously unrecognized, challenge to astrometric microlensing measurements of black hole masses.