SDSS J094604.90+183541.8: A Gravitationally Lensed Quasar at z=4.8

Abstract

We report the discovery of a gravitationally lensed quasar identified serendipitously in the Sloan Digital Sky Survey (SDSS). The object, SDSS J094604.90+183541.8, was initially targeted for spectroscopy as a luminous red galaxy, but the SDSS spectrum has the features of both a z=0.388 galaxy and a z=4.8 quasar. We have obtained additional imaging that resolves the system into two quasar images separated by 3.06 arcsec and a bright galaxy that is strongly blended with one of the quasar images. We confirm spectroscopically that the two quasar images represent a single lensed source at z=4.8 with a total magnification of 3.2, and we derive a model for the lensing galaxy. This is the highest redshift lensed quasar currently known. We examine the issues surrounding the selection of such an unusual object from existing data and briefly discuss implications for lensed quasar surveys.

AJ accepted, 9 pages, 6 figures, referee suggestions included

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• The Sloan Digital Sky Survey Quasar Lens Search. V. Final Catalog from the Seventh Data Release
• The Microlensing Properties of a Sample of 87 Lensed Quasars
• The Discovery of a Gravitationally Lensed Quasar at z = 6.51
• The Formation of the First Massive Black Holes
• VDES J2325-5229 a z=2.7 gravitationally lensed quasar discovered using morphology independent supervised machine learning
• Far-Infrared Properties of the Bright, Gravitationally Lensed Quasar J0439+1634 at z=6.5
• Subaru Telescope adaptive optics observations of gravitationally lensed quasars in the Sloan Digital Sky Survey
• Deep and rapid observations of strong-lensing galaxy clusters within the sky localisation of GW170814
• Serendipitous discovery of quadruply-imaged quasars: two diamonds
• Revisiting the Lensed Fraction of High-Redshift Quasars
• A Mock Catalog of Gravitationally Lensed Quasars for the LSST Survey
• Discovering strongly lensed quasar candidates with catalogue-based methods from DESI Legacy Surveys
• New Dynamical Measurements from a Lensed Quasar Sample: Joint Analysis Constrains the Mass Profile Evolution of Lens Galaxies