We carried out a detailed strong lensing analysis of a sub-sample of eight galaxy clusters of the Cluster Lensing And Supernova survey with Hubble (CLASH) in the redshift range of zcluster = 0.23 − ...0.59 using extensive spectroscopic information, primarily from the Multi Unit Spectroscopic Explorer (MUSE) archival data and complemented with CLASH-VLT redshift measurements. The observed positions of the multiple images of strongly lensed background sources were used to constrain parametric models describing the cluster total mass distributions. Different models were tested in each cluster depending on the complexity of its mass distribution and on the number of detected multiple images. Four clusters show more than five spectroscopically confirmed multiple image families. In this sample, we did not make use of families that are only photometrically identified in order to reduce model degeneracies between the values of the total mass of a cluster source redshifts, in addition to systematics due to the potential misidentifications of multiple images. For the remaining four clusters, we used additional families without any spectroscopic confirmation to increase the number of strong lensing constraints up to the number of free parameters in our parametric models. We present spectroscopic confirmation of 27 multiply lensed sources, with no previous spectroscopic measurements, spanning over the redshift range of zsrc = 0.7 − 6.1. Moreover, we confirm an average of 48 galaxy members in the core of each cluster thanks to the high efficiency and large field of view of MUSE. We used this information to derive precise strong lensing models, projected total mass distributions, and magnification maps. We show that, despite having different properties (i.e. number of mass components, total mass, redshift, etc.), the projected total mass and mass density profiles of all clusters have very similar shapes when rescaled by independent measurements of M200c and R200c. Specifically, we measured the mean value of the projected total mass of our cluster sample within 10 (20)% of R200c to be 0.13 (0.32) of M200c, with a remarkably small scatter of 5 (6)%. Furthermore, the large number of high-z sources and the precise magnification maps derived in this work for four clusters add up to the sample of high-quality gravitational telescopes to be used to study the faint and distant Universe.
We present an analysis of the MUSIC-2 /V-body/hydrodynamical simulations aimed at estimating the expected concentration-mass relation for the CLASH (Cluster Lensing and Supernova Survey with Hubble) ...cluster sample. We study nearly 1,400 halos simulated at high spatial and mass resolution. We study the shape of both their density and surface-density profiles and fit them with a variety of radial functions, including the Navarro-Frenk-White (NEW), the generalized NEW, and the Einasto density profiles. We derive concentrations and masses from these fits. We produce simulated Chandra observations of the halos, and we use them to identify objects resembling the X-ray morphologies and masses of the clusters in the CLASH X-ray-selected sample. We also derive a concentration-mass relation for strong-lensing clusters. We find that the sample of simulated halos that resembles the X-ray morphology of the CLASH clusters is composed mainly of relaxed halos, but it also contains a significant fraction of unrelaxed systems. For such a heterogeneous sample we measure an average two-dimensional concentration that is ~11% higher than is found for the full sample of simulated halos. After accounting for projection and selection effects, the average NEW concentrations of CLASH clusters are expected to be intermediate between those predicted in three dimensions for relaxed and super-relaxed halos. Matching the simulations to the individual CLASH clusters on the basis of the X-ray morphology, we expect that the NEW concentrations recovered from the lensing analysis of the CLASH clusters are in the range 3-6, with an average value of 3.87 and a standard deviation of 0.61.
Cluster mergers leave distinct signatures in the intracluster medium (ICM) in the form of shocks and diffuse cluster radio sources that provide evidence for the acceleration of relativistic ...particles. However, the physics of particle acceleration in the ICM is still not fully understood. Here we present new 1-4 GHz Jansky Very Large Array (VLA) and archival Chandra observations of the HST Frontier Fields Cluster Abell 2744. In our new VLA images, we detect the previously known ∼2.1 Mpc radio halo and ∼1.5 Mpc radio relic. We carry out a radio spectral analysis from which we determine the relic's injection spectral index to be . This corresponds to a shock Mach number of under the assumption of diffusive shock acceleration. We also find evidence for spectral steepening in the post-shock region. We do not find evidence for a significant correlation between the radio halo's spectral index and ICM temperature. In addition, we observe three new polarized diffuse sources and determine two of these to be newly discovered giant radio relics. These two relics are located in the southeastern and northwestern outskirts of the cluster. The corresponding integrated spectral indices measure −1.81 0.26 and −0.63 0.21 for the SE and NW relics, respectively. From an X-ray surface brightness profile we also detect a possible density jump of co-located with the newly discovered SE relic. This density jump would correspond to a shock front Mach number of .
ABSTRACT We present a new determination of the concentration-mass (c-M) relation for galaxy clusters based on our comprehensive lensing analysis of 19 X-ray selected galaxy clusters from the Cluster ...Lensing and Supernova Survey with Hubble (CLASH). Our sample spans a redshift range between 0.19 and 0.89. We combine weak-lensing constraints from the Hubble Space Telescope (HST) and from ground-based wide-field data with strong lensing constraints from HST. The results are reconstructions of the surface-mass density for all CLASH clusters on multi-scale grids. Our derivation of Navarro-Frenk-White parameters yields virial masses between and and the halo concentrations are distributed around with a significant negative slope with cluster mass. We find an excellent 4% agreement in the median ratio of our measured concentrations for each cluster and the respective expectation from numerical simulations after accounting for the CLASH selection function based on X-ray morphology. The simulations are analyzed in two dimensions to account for possible biases in the lensing reconstructions due to projection effects. The theoretical c-M relation from our X-ray selected set of simulated clusters and the c-M relation derived directly from the CLASH data agree at the 90% confidence level.
Growing observational evidence indicates that nebular line emission has a significant impact on the rest-frame optical fluxes of z ~ 5-7 galaxies. In this paper, we present the most direct ...observational evidence thus far for ubiquitous high-equivalent-width (EW) OIII + H beta line emission in Lyman-break galaxies at z ~ 7, and we present a strategy for an improved measurement of the sSFR at z ~ 7. We accomplish this through the selection of bright galaxies in the narrow redshift window z ~ 6.6-7.0 where the Spitzer/Infrared Array Camera (IRAC) 4.5 mu m flux provides a clean measurement of the stellar continuum light, in contrast with the 3.6 mu m flux, which is contaminated by the prominent OIII + H beta lines. We can also set a robust lower limit of gap4 Gyr super(-1) on the sSFR of our sample based on the mean spectral energy distribution.
We test the assumption of hydrostatic equilibrium in an X-ray luminosity selected sample of 50 galaxy clusters at 0.15 < z < 0.3 from the Local Cluster Substructure Survey (LoCuSS). Our weak-lensing ...measurements of M
500 control systematic biases to sub-4 per cent, and our hydrostatic measurements of the same achieve excellent agreement between XMM–Newton and Chandra. The mean ratio of X-ray to lensing mass for these 50 clusters is
$\mathrel {\beta _{\rm X}}\;= 0.95\pm 0.05$
, and for the 44 clusters also detected by Planck, the mean ratio of Planck mass estimate to LoCuSS lensing mass is
$\mathrel {\beta _{\rm P}}\;= 0.95\pm 0.04$
. Based on a careful like-for-like analysis, we find that LoCuSS, the Canadian Cluster Comparison Project, and Weighing the Giants agree on
$\mathrel {\beta _{\rm P}}\;\simeq 0.9{\rm -}0.95$
at 0.15 < z < 0.3. This small level of hydrostatic bias disagrees at ∼5σ with the level required to reconcile Planck cosmology results from the cosmic microwave background and galaxy cluster counts.
Context.
The shape of the mass density profiles of cosmological halos informs us of the nature of dark matter (DM) and DM-baryons interactions. Previous estimates of the inner slope of the mass ...density profiles of clusters of galaxies are in opposition to predictions derived from numerical simulations of cold dark matter (CDM).
Aims.
We determine the inner slope of the DM density profile of a massive cluster of galaxies, Abell S1063 (RXC J2248.7−4431) at
z
= 0.35, with a dynamical analysis based on an extensive spectroscopic campaign carried out with the VIMOS and MUSE spectrographs at the ESO VLT. This new data set provides an unprecedented sample of 1234 spectroscopic members, 104 of which are located in the cluster core (
R
≲ 200 kpc), extracted from the MUSE integral field spectroscopy. The latter also allows the stellar velocity dispersion profile of the brightest cluster galaxy (BCG) to be measured out to 40 kpc.
Methods.
We used an upgraded version of the MAMPOSSt technique to perform a joint maximum likelihood fit to the velocity dispersion profile of the BCG and to the velocity distribution of cluster member galaxies over a radial range from 1 kpc to the virial radius (
r
200
≈ 2.7 Mpc).
Results.
We find a value of
γ
DM
= 0.99 ± 0.04 for the inner logarithmic slope of the DM density profile after marginalizing over all the other parameters of the mass and velocity anisotropy models. Moreover, the newly determined dynamical mass profile is found to be in excellent agreement with the mass density profiles obtained from the independent X-ray hydrostatic analysis based on deep
Chandra
data, as well as the strong and weak lensing analyses.
Conclusions.
Our value of the inner logarithmic slope of the DM density profile
γ
DM
is in very good agreement with predictions from cosmological CDM simulations. We will extend our analysis to more clusters in future works. If confirmed on a larger cluster sample, our result makes this DM model more appealing than alternative models.
We present a detailed mass reconstruction and a novel study on the substructure properties in the core of the Cluster Lensing And Supernova survey with Hubble (CLASH) and Frontier Fields galaxy ...clusterMACS J0416.1-2403. We reproduce the measured positions of a set of 30 multiple images with a remarkable median offset of only 0.3 by means of a comprehensive strong lensing model comprised of two cluster dark-matter halos, represented by cored elliptical pseudo-isothermal mass distributions, and the cluster member components, parameterized with dual pseudo-isothermal total mass profiles. We investigate the galaxy contribution, both in terms of total and stellar mass, to the total mass budget of the cluster. Our findings of the location and shape of the cluster dark-matter halo density profiles and on the cluster substructures provide intriguing tests of the assumed collisionless, cold nature of dark matter and of the role played by baryons in the process of structure formation.
Aims. We perform a comprehensive study of the total mass distribution of the galaxy cluster RXC J2248.7−4431 (z = 0.348) with a set of high-precision strong lensing models, which take advantage of ...extensive spectroscopic information on many multiply lensed systems. In the effort to understand and quantify inherent systematics in parametric strong lensing modelling, we explore a collection of 22 models in which we use different samples of multiple image families, different parametrizations of the mass distribution and cosmological parameters. Methods. As input information for the strong lensing models, we use the Cluster Lensing And Supernova survey with Hubble (CLASH) imaging data and spectroscopic follow-up observations, with the VIsible Multi-Object Spectrograph (VIMOS) and Multi Unit Spectroscopic Explorer (MUSE) on the Very Large Telescope (VLT), to identify and characterize bona fide multiple image families and measure their redshifts down to mF814W ≃ 26. A total of 16 background sources, over the redshift range 1.0−6.1, are multiply lensed into 47 images, 24 of which are spectroscopically confirmed and belong to ten individual sources. These also include a multiply lensed Lyman-α blob at z = 3.118. The cluster total mass distribution and underlying cosmology in the models are optimized by matching the observed positions of the multiple images on the lens plane. Bayesian Markov chain Monte Carlo techniques are used to quantify errors and covariances of the best-fit parameters. Results. We show that with a careful selection of a large sample of spectroscopically confirmed multiple images, the best-fit model can reproduce their observed positions with a rms scatter of 0.̋3 in a fixed flat ΛCDM cosmology, whereas the lack of spectroscopic information or the use of inaccurate photometric redshifts can lead to biases in the values of the model parameters. We find that the best-fit parametrization for the cluster total mass distribution is composed of an elliptical pseudo-isothermal mass distribution with a significant core for the overall cluster halo and truncated pseudo-isothermal mass profiles for the cluster galaxies. We show that by adding bona fide photometric-selected multiple images to the sample of spectroscopic families, one can slightly improve constraints on the model parameters. In particular, we find that the degeneracy between the lens total mass distribution and the underlying geometry of the Universe, which is probed via angular diameter distance ratios between the lens and sources and the observer and sources, can be partially removed. Allowing cosmological parameters to vary together with the cluster parameters, we find (at 68% confidence level) Ωm = 0.25+ 0.13-0.16 and w = −1.07+ 0.16-0.42 for a flat ΛCDM model, and Ωm = 0.31+ 0.12-0.13 and ΩΛ = 0.38+ 0.38-0.27 for a Universe with w = −1 and free curvature. Finally, using toy models mimicking the overall configuration of multiple images and cluster total mass distribution, we estimate the impact of the line-of-sight mass structure on the positional rms to be 0.̋3 ± 0. We argue that the apparent sensitivity of our lensing model to cosmography is due to the combination of the regular potential shape of RXC J2248, a large number of bona fide multiple images out to z = 6.1, and a relatively modest presence of intervening large-scale structure, as revealed by our spectroscopic survey.
We perform a strong lensing analysis of the merging galaxy cluster MACS J0416.1?2403 (M0416; z = 0.42) in recent CLASH/HST observations. We identify 70 new multiple images and candidates of 23 ...background sources in the range 0.7 <, ~ z sub(phot) <, ~ 6.14 including two probable high-redshift dropouts, revealing a highly elongated lens with axis ratio Asymptotically = to25:1, and a major axis of ~100" (z sub(s) ~ 2). Compared to other well-studied clusters, M0416 shows an enhanced lensing efficiency. Although the critical area is not particularly large (Asymptotically = to0.6 whitesquare'; z sub(s) ~ 2), the number of multiple images, per critical area, is anomalously high. We calculate that the observed elongation boosts the number of multiple images, per critical area, by a factor of ~2.5x, due to the increased ratio of the caustic area relative to the critical area. Additionally, we find that the observed separation between the two main mass components enlarges the critical area by a factor of ~2. These geometrical effects can account for the high number (density) of multiple images observed. We find in numerical simulations that only ~4% of the clusters (with M sub(vir) > or =, slanted 6 x 10 super(14) h super(-1) M sub(middle in circle)) exhibit critical curves as elongated as in M0416.