Microlensing of Large Sources

We prove an approximate gravitational lensing theorem: the magnification of a source of uniform brightness by a foreground spherical lens is μ=1+π(2R²_E-R²_L)/A, where A is the area of the source and R_E and R_L are the Einstein radius and size of the lens projected into the source plane; this provides an accurate approximation to the exact magnification for R²_L, R²_E<<A. Remarkably, this result is independent of the shape of the source or position of the lens (except near the edges). We show that this formula can be generalized to include limb darkening of a circular source by simply inserting the surface brightness at the position of the foreground object (divided by the average surface brightness of the star). We also show that similar formulae apply for a point-mass lens contained in a shear field and mass sheet and for an ensemble of point masses, as long as the Einstein radii are much smaller than the source size. This theorem can be used to compute transit or microlensing light curves for which the foreground star or planet has a size and Einstein radius much smaller than the background star.