Gaia16aye binary microlensing event is rising for the 5th time

ATel #10341; L. Wyrzykowski (Warsaw), P. Mroz (Warsaw), K. Rybicki (Warsaw), G. Altavilla (INAF Bologna), V. Bakis (Akdeniz Univ.), P. Bendjoya (C2PU-Omicron), G. Birenbaum (Wise Obs.), N. Blagorodnova (Caltech), S. Blanco-Cuaresma (Geneva), A. Bonanos (NOA Athens), V. Bozza (Salerno), N. Britavskiy (IAC), U. Burgaz (Ege Univ.), T. Butterley (Durham Univ.), P. Capuozzo (Ardingly College), J. M.Carrasco (Barcelona Univ.), M. Chruslinska (Warsaw), G. Damljanovic (Belgrade), T. Dapergolas (NAO Athens), M. Dennefeld (IAP), V. S.Dhillon (Sheffield Univ.), M. Dominik (St. Andrews Univ.), H. Esenoglu (TUG), S. Fossey (UCL), A. Gomboc (Nova Gorica Univ.), N. Hallokoun (Wise Obs.), A. Hamanowicz (Warsaw), L. K.Hardy (Sheffield Univ.), R. Hudec (Ondrejov), I. Khamitov (TUG Antaluya), J. Klencki (Warsaw), Z. Kolaczkowski (Wroclaw), U. Kolb (Open Univ.), S. Leonini (Montarrenti Obs), G. Leto (INAF OACT), F. Lewis (Cardiff Univ.), A. Liakos (NOA Athens), S. P.Littlefair (Sheffield Univ.), D. Maoz (Wise Obs.), J. R.Maund (Sheffield Univ.), P. Mikolajczyk (Wroclaw), L. Palaversa (Geneva/Cambridge), M. Pawlak (Warsaw), M. Penny (Ohio State), A. Piascik (Liverpool JMU), P. Reig (Crete Univ.), L. Rhodes (Sheffield Univ.), D. Russell (New York Univ.), R. Z.Sanchez (INAF OACT), B. Shappee (Ohio State), Y. Shvartzvald (Wise Obs.), M. Sitek (Warsaw), M. Sniegowska (Warsaw), K. Sokolovsky (IAASARS NOA/SAI/ASC Lebedev), I. Steele (Liverpool JMU), R. Street (LCOGT), L. Tomasella (INAF OAPD), L. Trascinelli (Ardingly College), K. Wiersema (Leicester), R. W.Wilson (Durham Univ.), I. Zharkov (Ardingly College), S. Zola (Jagiellonian Univ.), A. Zubareva (SAI)
on 3 May 2017; 05:58 UT
Credential Certification: Lukasz Wyrzykowski (wyrzykow@astrouw.edu.pl)

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Gaia16aye, nicknamed Ayers Rock (19:40:01.13 +30:07:53.4, J2000) was detected in August 2016 and continue on-going, becoming the longest microlensing event found in the Galactic Disk (ATEL #9376, #9507). The new observations carried out in last four months after the 4th caustic crossing in Nov 2016 (ATEL #9770) show a steady rise over 1 magnitude, which has increased its speed in the last couple of days. The follow-up data from a network of follow-up telescopes, coordinated by the OPTICON Time Domain WP can be seen via Cambridge Photometric Calibration Server (CPCS) and on Gaia Science Alerts page (Follow-up).

The new best binary lens model matching the current observations (found by Przemek Mroz) is updated on this webpage and predicts the fifth brightening episode, reaching the peak around JD=2457880 (2017 May 6) at about V=14 mag (I=13 mag). The model light curve in its static version is available also here.

While our best current model predicts the increase due to cusp approach due to binary system rotation and strong parallax effect, we can not rule out there might be another caustic crossing within next week. Therefore, we call for frequent photometric observations of Gaia16aye.

The photometric calibrations were obtained in an automated fashion using the Cambridge Photometric Calibration Server (CPCS), designed and maintained by Sergey Koposov and Lukasz Wyrzykowski. We acknowledge ESA Gaia, DPAC and the Photometric Science Alerts Team.

Current microlensing model.