Probing the Mass Fraction of MACHOs in Extragalactic Halos | Zendy

Rosalba Perna | Zendy; Abraham Loeb | Zendy

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Probing the Mass Fraction of MACHOs in Extragalactic Halos

Author(s) -

Rosalba Perna,

Abraham Loeb

Publication year - 1998

Publication title -

the astrophysical journal

Language(s) - English

Resource type - Journals

SCImago Journal Rank - 2.376

H-Index - 489

eISSN - 1538-4357

pISSN - 0004-637X

DOI - 10.1086/305170

Subject(s) - quasar , physics , astrophysics , gravitational microlensing , halo , galaxy , milky way , astronomy , sky , galactic halo

Current microlensing searches calibrate the mass fraction of the Milky Wayhalo which is in the form of Massive Compact Halo Objects (MACHOs). We showthat surveys like the Sloan Digital Sky Survey (SDSS) can probe the samequantity in halos of distant galaxies. Microlensing of background quasars byMACHOs in intervening galaxies would distort the equivalent width distributionof the quasar emission lines by an amplitude that depends on the projectedquasar-galaxy separation. For a statistical sample of detectable at the >2sigmalevel out to a quasar-galaxy impact parameter of several tens of kpc, as longas extragalactic halos are made of MACHOs. Detection of this signal would testwhether the MACHO fraction inferred for the Milky-Way halo is typical of othergalaxies.Comment: 12 pages, 2 figures, submitted to ApJ Letter

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