Discovery of the largest known lensed images formed by a critically convergent lensing cluster

Abstract

We identify the largest known lensed images of a single spiral galaxy, lying close to the centre of the distant cluster MACS J1149.5+2223 ($z=0.544$). These images cover a total area of $\simeq 150 \Box\arcsec$ and are magnified $\simeq 200$ times. Unusually, there is very little image distortion implying the central mass distribution is almost uniform over a wide area ($r\simeq 200kpc$) with a surface density equal to the critical density for lensing, corresponding to maximal lens magnification. Many fainter multiply-lensed galaxies are also uncovered by our model, outlining a very large tangential critical curve, of radius $r\simeq 170kpc$, posing a potential challenge for the standard LCDM-Cosmology. Because of the uniform central mass distribution a particularly clean measurement of the mass of the brightest cluster galaxy is possible here, for which we infer stars contribute most of the mass within a limiting radius of $\simeq 30kpc$, with a mass-to-light ratio of $M/L_B\simeq 4.5(M/L{)}_{\odot }$. This cluster with its uniform and central mass distribution acts analogously to a regular magnifying glass, converging light without distorting the images, resulting in the most powerful lens yet discovered for accessing the faint high-$z$ Universe.

5 pages, 5 figures, accepted to ApJ letters - minor changes made. High resolution figures available at ftp://wise-ftp.tau.ac.il/pub/adiz/macs1149.5+2223

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• Intracluster Light at the Frontier II: The Frontier Fields Clusters
• Ultraviolet Morphologies and Star-Formation Rates of CLASH Brightest Cluster Galaxies
• Microlensing of Extremely Magnified Stars near Caustics of Galaxy Clusters
• Revised Lens Model for the Multiply-Imaged Lensed Supernova, "SN Refsdal", in MACS J1149+2223
• A Rigorous Free-form Lens Model of Abell 2744 to Meet the Hubble Frontier Fields Challenge
• Full Lensing Analysis of Abell 1703: Comparison of Independent Lens-Modelling Techniques
• Predicted properties of multiple images of the strongly lensed supernova SN Refsdal
• Young Galaxy Candidates in the Hubble Frontier Fields IV. MACS J1149.5+2223
• MC${}^2$: Dynamical Analysis of the Merging Galaxy Cluster MACS J1149.5+2223
• The strongest gravitational lenses: III. The order statistics of the largest Einstein radii