Discovery of two gravitationally lensed quasars in the Dark Energy Survey
- PAB, Los Angeles, CA (United States). et al.
In this study, we present spectroscopic confirmation of two new lensed quasars via data obtained at the 6.5m Magellan/Baade Telescope. The lens candidates have been selected from the Dark Energy Survey (DES) and WISE based on their multi-band photometry and extended morphology in DES images. Images of DES J0115-5244 show two blue point sources at either side of a red galaxy. Our long-slit data confirm that both point sources are images of the same quasar at zs = 1.64. The Einstein Radius estimated from the DES images is 0.51''. DES J2146-0047 is in the area of overlap between DES and the Sloan Digital Sky Survey (SDSS). Two blue components are visible in the DES and SDSS images. The SDSS fiber spectrum shows a quasar component at zs = 2.38 and absorption compatible with Mg II and Fe II at zl = 0.799, which we tentatively associate with the foreground lens galaxy. The long-slit Magellan spectra show that the blue components are resolved images of the same quasar. Furthermore, the Einstein Radius is 0.68'' corresponding to an enclosed mass of 1.6 × 1011 M⊙. Three other candidates were observed and rejected, two being low-redshift pairs of starburst galaxies, and one being a quasar behind a blue star. These first confirmation results provide an important empirical validation of the data-mining and model-based selection that is being applied to the entire DES dataset.
- Research Organization:
- Fermi National Accelerator Laboratory (FNAL), Batavia, IL (United States); SLAC National Accelerator Laboratory (SLAC), Menlo Park, CA (United States)
- Sponsoring Organization:
- USDOE Office of Science (SC), High Energy Physics (HEP)
- Contributing Organization:
- DES Collaboration
- Grant/Contract Number:
- AC02-07CH11359; AC02-76SF00515
- OSTI ID:
- 1221334
- Alternate ID(s):
- OSTI ID: 1263419
- Report Number(s):
- FERMILAB-PUB-15-341-AE; SLAC-PUB-16619; arXiv eprint number arXiv:1508.01203
- Journal Information:
- Monthly Notices of the Royal Astronomical Society (Online), Vol. 454, Issue 2; ISSN 1365-2966
- Publisher:
- Royal Astronomical SocietyCopyright Statement
- Country of Publication:
- United States
- Language:
- English
Web of Science
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