Three microlensing planets with no caustic-crossing features

Abstract

Aims. We search for microlensing planets with signals exhibiting no caustic-crossing features, considering the possibility that such signals may be missed due to their weak and featureless nature. Methods. For this purpose, we reexamine the lensing events found by the KMTNet survey before the 2019 season. From this investigation, we find two new planetary lensing events, KMT-2018-BLG-1976 and KMT-2018-BLG-1996. We also present the analysis of the planetary event OGLE-2019-BLG-0954, for which the planetary signal was known but no detailed analysis had previously been presented. We identify the genuineness of the planetary signals by checking various interpretations that can generate short-term anomalies in lensing light curves. Results. From Bayesian analyses conducted with the constraint from available observables, we find that the host and planet masses are (M1, M2) ~ (0.65 M⊙, 2 MJ) for KMT-2018-BLG-1976L, ~(0.69 M⊙, 1 MJ) for KMT-2018-BLG-1996L, and ~(0.80 M⊙, 14 MJ) for OGLE-2019-BLG-0954L. The estimated distance to OGLE-2019-BLG-0954L, 3.63−1.64+1.22 kpc, indicates that it is located in the disk, and the brightness expected from the mass and distance matches the brightness of the blend well, indicating that the lens accounts for most of the blended flux. The lens of OGLE-2019-BLG-0954 may be resolved from the source by conducting high-resolution follow-up observations in and after 2024.