Parallax distortion by the weak microlensing effect

• Published in: Monthly notices of the Royal Astronomical Society Vol. 323; no. 4; pp. 952 - 964
• Main Authors: Sazhin, M. V., Zharov, V. E., Kalinina, T. A.
• Format: Journal Article
• Language: English
• Published: Oxford, UK Blackwell Science Ltd 01-06-2001
• Subjects: galaxies: active; gravitational lensing; quasars: general; reference systems; stars: distances; gravitational lensing; quasars: general; galaxies: active; stars: distances; reference systems
• ISSN: 0035-8711; 1365-2966
• DOI: 10.1046/j.1365-8711.2001.04299.x

Parallax measurements allow distances to celestial objects to be determined. Together with measurements of their position on the celestial sphere, they give a full three-dimensional picture of the location of the objects relative to the observer. The distortion of the parallax value of a distant source affected by weak microlensing is considered. This means that the weak microlensing leads to distortion of the distance scale. The gravitational deflection causes a retrograde apparent motion of the image, which is revealed as a negative parallax. It is shown that the distortions may significantly change the parallax values when they amount to several microseconds of arc. In particular, at this level many measured values of parallaxes should be negative.