Mapping compound cosmic telescopes containing multiple projected cluster-scale halos

Journal Article · Mon Jan 20 04:00:00 EST 2014 · Astrophysical Journal

DOI:https://doi.org/10.1088/0004-637X/781/1/2· OSTI ID:22348194

Ammons, S. Mark ^[1]; Wong, Kenneth C. ^[2]; Zabludoff, Ann I. ^[3]

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1. Lawrence Livermore National Laboratory, Physics Division L-210, 7000 East Ave., Livermore, CA 94550 (United States)
2. EACOA Fellow, Institute of Astronomy and Astrophysics, Academia Sinica (ASIAA), Taipei 10641, Taiwan (China)
3. Steward Observatory, University of Arizona, 933 Cherry Ave., Tucson, AZ 85721 (United States)

Lines of sight with multiple projected cluster-scale gravitational lenses have high total masses and complex lens plane interactions that can boost the area of magnification, or étendue, making detection of faint background sources more likely than elsewhere. To identify these new 'compound' cosmic telescopes, we have found directions in the sky with the highest integrated mass densities, as traced by the projected concentrations of luminous red galaxies (LRGs). We use new galaxy spectroscopy to derive preliminary magnification maps for two such lines of sight with total mass exceeding ∼3 × 10{sup 15} M {sub ☉}. From 1151 MMT Hectospec spectra of galaxies down to i {sub AB} = 21.2, we identify two to three group- and cluster-scale halos in each beam. These are well traced by LRGs. The majority of the mass in beam J085007.6+360428 (0850) is contributed by Zwicky 1953, a massive cluster at z = 0.3774, whereas beam J130657.5+463219 (1306) is composed of three halos with virial masses of 6 × 10{sup 14}-2 × 10{sup 15} M {sub ☉}, one of which is A1682. The magnification maps derived from our mass models based on spectroscopy and Sloan Digital Sky Survey photometry alone display substantial étendue: the 68% confidence bands on the lens plane area with magnification exceeding 10 for a source plane of z{sub s} = 10 are [1.2, 3.8] arcmin{sup 2} for 0850 and [2.3, 6.7] arcmin{sup 2} for 1306. In deep Subaru Suprime-Cam imaging of beam 0850, we serendipitously discover a candidate multiply imaged V-dropout source at z {sub phot} = 5.03. The location of the candidate multiply imaged arcs is consistent with the critical curves for a source plane of z = 5.03 predicted by our mass model. Incorporating the position of the candidate multiply imaged galaxy as a constraint on the critical curve location in 0850 narrows the 68% confidence band on the lens plane area with μ > 10 and z{sub s} = 10 to [1.8, 4.2] arcmin{sup 2}, an étendue range comparable to that of MACS 0717+3745 and El Gordo, two of the most powerful single cluster lenses known. The significant lensing power of our beams makes them powerful probes of reionization and galaxy formation in the early universe.

• OSTI ID: 22348194
• Journal Information: Astrophysical Journal, Journal Name: Astrophysical Journal Journal Issue: 1 Vol. 781; ISSN ASJOAB; ISSN 0004-637X
• Country of Publication: United States
• Language: English

Related Subjects

79 ASTRONOMY AND ASTROPHYSICS
ABUNDANCE
BEAMS
COMPARATIVE EVALUATIONS
CONCENTRATION RATIO
DENSITY
DETECTION
GALAXIES
GALAXY CLUSTERS
GRAVITATIONAL LENSES
INTERACTIONS
MAPS
MASS
PHOTOMETRY
RADIAL VELOCITY
RED SHIFT
SPECTRA
SPECTROSCOPY
TELESCOPES
UNIVERSE