Studying the Galactic Bulge Through Spectroscopy of Microlensed Sources: I. Theoretical Considerations

The observed spectra of the microlensed sources towards the Galactic bulge may be used as a tool for studying the kinematics and extinction effects in the Galactic bulge. In this paper, we first investigate the expected distribution of the microlensed sources as a function of depth within the Galactic bulge. Our analysis takes a magnitude limited microlensing survey into account, and includes the effects of extinction. We show that, in the current magnitude limited surveys, the probability that the source lies at the far side of the bulge is larger than the probability that the source lies at the near side by a factor of about 2–3. We then investigate the effects of extinction on the observed spectra of microlensed sources. Kurucz model spectra and the observed extinctions towards the Galactic bulge have been used to demonstrate that the microlensed sources should clearly show the effects of extinction which, in turn, can be used as a statistical measure of the contribution of the disk lenses and bulge lenses at different depths. The spectra of the microlensed sources provide a unique probe to derive the radial velocities of a sample which lies preferentially at the far side of the Galactic bulge. The radial velocities, coupled with the microlensing time scales, can thus be useful in studying the 3-dimensional kinematics of the Galactic bulge. Subject headings: Galaxy: structure — Galaxy: stellar content — stars: kinematics