What are the faintest distant galaxies we can see with the Hubble Space Telescope (HST) now, before the launch of the James Webb Space Telescope? This is the challenge taken up by the Frontier ...Fields, a Director's discretionary time campaign with HST and the Spitzer Space Telescope to see deeper into the universe than ever before. The Frontier Fields combines the power of HST and Spitzer with the natural gravitational telescopes of massive high-magnification clusters of galaxies to produce the deepest observations of clusters and their lensed galaxies ever obtained. Six clusters-Abell 2744, MACSJ0416.1-2403, MACSJ0717.5+3745, MACSJ1149.5+2223, Abell S1063, and Abell 370-have been targeted by the HST ACS/WFC and WFC3/IR cameras with coordinated parallel fields for over 840 HST orbits. The parallel fields are the second-deepest observations thus far by HST with 5 point-source depths of ∼29th ABmag. Galaxies behind the clusters experience typical magnification factors of a few, with small regions magnified by factors of 10-100. Therefore, the Frontier Field cluster HST images achieve intrinsic depths of ∼30-33 mag over very small volumes. Spitzer has obtained over 1000 hr of Director's discretionary imaging of the Frontier Field cluster and parallels in IRAC 3.6 and 4.5 m bands to 5 point-source depths of ∼26.5, 26.0 ABmag. We demonstrate the exceptional sensitivity of the HST Frontier Field images to faint high-redshift galaxies, and review the initial results related to the primary science goals.
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.
Context.
According to the current paradigm of galaxy formation, the first galaxies likely formed within large dark matter haloes. The fragmentation of these massive haloes led to the formation of ...galaxy protoclusters, which are usually composed of one to a few bright objects, surrounded by numerous fainter (and less massive) galaxies. These early structures could have played a major role in reionising the neutral hydrogen within the first billion years of the Universe, especially if their number density is significant.
Aims.
Taking advantage of the unprecedented sensitivity reached by the
James Webb
Space Telescope (JWST), galaxy protoclusters can now be identified and studied in increasing numbers beyond
z
≥ 6. Characterising their contribution to the UV photon budget could supply new insights into the reionisation process.
Methods.
We analysed the first JWST dataset behind SMACS0723−7327 to search for protoclusters at
z
≥ 6, combining the available spectroscopic and photometric data. We then compared our findings with semi-analytical models and simulations.
Results.
In addition to two bright galaxies (≤26.5 AB in
F
277
W
), separated by ∼11″and spectroscopically confirmed at
z
spec
= 7.66, we identify six additional galaxies with similar colours within a
θ
∼ 20″ radius (corresponding to
R
∼ 60 − 90 kpc in the source plane). Using several methods, we estimate the mass of the dark matter halo of this protocluster as ∼3.3 × 10
11
M
⊙
, accounting for magnification, consistent with various predictions. The physical properties of all protocluster members are also in excellent agreement with what has been previously found at lower redshifts: star formation main sequence and protocluster size. This detection adds to just a few protoclusters currently known in the first billion years of the universe. These
z
≥ 7 galaxy protoclusters may play an important role in cosmic reionisation.
We examine the massive colliding cluster El Gordo, one of the most massive clusters at high redshift. We use a free-form lensing reconstruction method that avoids making assumptions about the mass ...distribution. We use data from the RELICS program and identify new multiply lensed system candidates. The new set of constraints and free-form method provide a new independent mass estimate of this intriguing colliding cluster. Our results are found to be consistent with earlier parametric models, indirectly confirming the assumptions made in earlier work. By fitting a double gNFW profile to the lens model and extrapolating to the virial radius, we infer a total mass for the cluster of M . We estimate the uncertainty in the mass due to errors in the photometric redshifts and discuss the uncertainty in the inferred virial mass due to the extrapolation from the lens model. We also find in our lens map a mass overdensity corresponding to the large cometary tail of hot gas, reinforcing its interpretation as a large tidal feature predicted by hydrodynamical simulations that mimic El Gordo. Finally, we discuss the observed relation between the plasma and the mass map, finding that the peak in the projected mass map may be associated with a large concentration of colder gas exhibiting possible star formation. El Gordo is one of the first clusters that will be observed with JWST, which is expected to unveil new high-redshift lensed galaxies around this interesting cluster and provide a more accurate estimation of its mass.
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.
ABSTRACT Supernova "Refsdal," multiply imaged by cluster MACS1149.5+2223, represents a rare opportunity to make a true blind test of model predictions in extragalactic astronomy, on a timescale that ...is short compared to a human lifetime. In order to take advantage of this event, we produced seven gravitational lens models with five independent methods, based on Hubble Space Telescope (HST) Hubble Frontier Field images, along with extensive spectroscopic follow-up observations by HST, the Very Large and the Keck Telescopes. We compare the model predictions and show that they agree reasonably well with the measured time delays and magnification ratios between the known images, even though these quantities were not used as input. This agreement is encouraging, considering that the models only provide statistical uncertainties, and do not include additional sources of uncertainties such as structure along the line of sight, cosmology, and the mass sheet degeneracy. We then present the model predictions for the other appearances of supernova "Refsdal." A future image will reach its peak in the first half of 2016, while another image appeared between 1994 and 2004. The past image would have been too faint to be detected in existing archival images. The future image should be approximately one-third as bright as the brightest known image (i.e., mag at peak and mag six months before peak), and thus detectable in single-orbit HST images. We will find out soon whether our predictions are correct.
We present a detailed strong-lensing, weak-lensing and X-ray analysis of Abell 2744 (z= 0.308), one of the most actively merging galaxy clusters known. It appears to have unleashed 'dark', 'ghost', ...'bullet' and 'stripped' substructures, each ∼1014 M⊙. The phenomenology is complex and will present a challenge for numerical simulations to reproduce. With new, multiband Hubble Space Telescope (HST) imaging, we identify 34 strongly lensed images of 11 galaxies around the massive Southern 'core'. Combining this with weak-lensing data from HST, VLT and Subaru, we produce the most detailed mass map of this cluster to date. We also perform an independent analysis of archival Chandra X-ray imaging. Our analyses support a recent claim that the Southern core and Northwestern substructure are post-merger and exhibit morphology similar to the Bullet Cluster viewed from an angle. From the separation between X-ray emitting gas and lensing mass in the Southern core, we derive a new and independent constraint on the self-interaction cross-section of dark matter particles σ/m < 3 ± 1 cm2 g−1. In the Northwestern substructure, the gas, dark matter and galaxy components have become separated by much larger distances. Most curiously, the 'ghost' clump (primarily gas) leads the 'dark' clump (primarily dark matter) by more than 150 kpc. We propose an enhanced 'ram-pressure slingshot' scenario which may have yielded this reversal of components with such a large separation, but needs further confirmation by follow-up observations and numerical simulations. A secondary merger involves a second 'bullet' clump in the North and an extremely 'stripped' clump to the West. The latter appears to exhibit the largest separation between dark matter and X-ray emitting baryons detected to date in our sky.
Abstract
Gravitational lensing by clusters of galaxies offers a powerful probe of their structure and mass distribution. Several research groups have developed techniques independently to achieve ...this goal. While these methods have all provided remarkably high-precision mass maps, particularly with exquisite imaging data from the Hubble Space Telescope (HST), the reconstructions themselves have never been directly compared. In this paper, we present for the first time a detailed comparison of methodologies for fidelity, accuracy and precision. For this collaborative exercise, the lens modelling community was provided simulated cluster images that mimic the depth and resolution of the ongoing HST Frontier Fields. The results of the submitted reconstructions with the un-blinded true mass profile of these two clusters are presented here. Parametric, free-form and hybrid techniques have been deployed by the participating groups and we detail the strengths and trade-offs in accuracy and systematics that arise for each methodology. We note in conclusion that several properties of the lensing clusters are recovered equally well by most of the lensing techniques compared in this study. For example, the reconstruction of azimuthally averaged density and mass profiles by both parametric and free-form methods matches the input models at the level of ∼10 per cent. Parametric techniques are generally better at recovering the 2D maps of the convergence and of the magnification. For the best-performing algorithms, the accuracy in the magnification estimate is ∼10 per cent at μtrue = 3 and it degrades to ∼30 per cent at μtrue ∼ 10.
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.
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