Testing KMTNet--PRIME Optical--Near-Infrared Source-Color Constraints in KMT-2024-BLG-0211 and KMT-2024-BLG-1522

Abstract

We present analyses of two 2024 microlensing events, KMT-2024-BLG-0211 and KMT-2024-BLG-1522, jointly observed by KMTNet in the optical and PRIME in the near-infrared. For KMT-2024-BLG-0211, the KMTNet--PRIME $I-H$ color provides a useful constraint on the angular source radius for a short-timescale finite-source event with a giant source. The event is consistent with a low-mass stellar lens, although the weak parallax constraint leaves the lens mass and distance uncertain. For KMT-2024-BLG-1522, we compare the results obtained from $V-I$, $I-H$, $V-H$, and $J-H$ color constraints. The microlensing parameters are nearly identical among the four analyses, yielding a robust binary-lens solution with nearly equal masses. However, the inferred source properties and lens physical parameters depend on the adopted source color because the different color estimates imply different angular source radii. Comparing the $(V-I)_{\rm KMT}$ versus $(I-H)_{\rm KMT,PRIME}$ plane shows that the inferred source colors lie off empirical color--color relations but within the scatter of observed stars. The prevalence of such deviations should be tested with a larger sample of KMTNet--PRIME events and this specific case can be further tested with future adaptive-optics follow-up, which can directly measure the lens--source relative proper motion and lens flux.