JWST's PEARLS: Mothra, a new kaiju star at z=2.091 extremely magnified by MACS0416, and implications for dark matter models

Abstract

We report the discovery of Mothra, an extremely magnified monster star, likely a binary system of two supergiant stars, in one of the strongly lensed galaxies behind the galaxy cluster MACS0416. The star is in a galaxy with spectroscopic redshift $z=2.091$ in a portion of the galaxy that is parsecs away from the cluster caustic. The binary star is observed only on the side of the critical curve with negative parity but has been detectable for at least eight years, implying the presence of a small lensing perturber. Microlenses alone cannot explain the earlier observations of this object made with the Hubble Space Telescope. A larger perturber with a mass of at least $10^4$\,\Msun\ offers a more satisfactory explanation. Based on the lack of perturbation on other nearby sources in the same arc, the maximum mass of the perturber is $M<2.5\times 10^6$\,\Msun, making it the smallest substructure constrained by lensing above redshift 0.3. The existence of this millilens is fully consistent with the expectations from the standard cold dark matter model. On the other hand, the existence of such small substructure in a cluster environment has implications for other dark matter models. In particular, warm dark matter models with particle masses below 8.7\,keV are excluded by our observations. Similarly, axion dark matter models are consistent with the observations only if the axion mass is in the range $0.5\times 10^{-22}\mathrm{eV}<m_a<5\times 10^{-22}\mathrm{eV}$.

26 pages and 27 figures

References in corpus (25)

• Cosmic Structure as the Quantum Interference of a Coherent Dark Wave
• Warm dark matter chills out: constraints on the halo mass function and the free-streaming length of dark matter with 8 quadruple-image strong gravitational lenses
• A Supermassive Black Hole in an Ultracompact Dwarf Galaxy
• Variability in red supergiant stars: pulsations, long secondary periods and convection noise
• JWST's PEARLS: Prime Extragalactic Areas for Reionization and Lensing Science: Project Overview and First Results
• An Atlas of MUSE Observations towards Twelve Massive Lensing Clusters
• Hubble Frontier Fields : A High Precision Strong Lensing Analysis of Galaxy Cluster MACSJ0416.1-2403 using ~200 Multiple Images
• A Highly Magnified Star at Redshift 6.2
• The Near Infrared Imager and Slitless Spectrograph for the James Webb Space Telescope -- II. Wide Field Slitless Spectroscopy
• Einstein rings modulated by wavelike dark matter from anomalies in gravitationally lensed images
• Stellar mergers as the origin of the blue main-sequence band in young star clusters
• A lensed radio jet at milli-arcsecond resolution II: Constraints on fuzzy dark matter from an extended gravitational arc
• The Period-Luminosity Relation of Red Supergiant Stars in the Small Magellanic Cloud
• JWST Imaging of Earendel, the Extremely Magnified Star at Redshift $z=6.2$
• Free Form Lensing Implications for the Collision of Dark Matter and Gas in the Frontier Fields Cluster MACSJ0416.1-2403
• Bonn Optimized Stellar Tracks (BoOST). Simulated Populations of Massive and Very Massive Stars for Astrophysical Applications
• Red Supergiant Stars in the Large Magellanic Cloud: I. The Period-Luminosity Relation
• Two lensed star candidates at $z\simeq 4.8$ behind the galaxy cluster MACS J0647.7+7015
• JWST's PEARLS: a new lens model for ACT-CL J0102$-$4915, "EL Gordo'', and the first red supergiant star at cosmological distances discovered by JWST
• A new high-precision strong lensing model of the galaxy cluster MACS J0416.1-2403
• Quantum fluctuations masquerade as halos: Bounds on ultra-light dark matter from quadruply-imaged quasars
• Don't cross the streams: caustics from Fuzzy Dark Matter
• A state-of-the-art strong lensing model of MACS J0416.1-2403 with the largest sample of spectroscopic multiple images
• Early results from GLASS-JWST VIII: An Extremely Magnified Blue Supergiant Star at Redshift 2.65 in the Abell 2744 Cluster Field
• Flashlights: An Off-Caustic Lensed Star at Redshift $z$ = 1.26 in Abell 370

Cited by in corpus (27)

• Forecasts for Galaxy Formation and Dark Matter Constraints from Dwarf Galaxy Surveys
• JWST's PEARLS: 119 multiply imaged galaxies behind MACS0416, lensing properties of caustic crossing galaxies, and the relation between halo mass and number of globular clusters at $z=0.4$
• Imaging dark matter at the smallest scales with $z\approx 1$ lensed stars
• CANUCS: Constraining the MACS J0416.1-2403 Strong Lensing Model with JWST NIRISS, NIRSpec and NIRCam
• A million-solar-mass object detected at cosmological distance using gravitational imaging
• Detecting Population III Stars through Tidal Disruption Events in the Era of JWST and Roman
• The Sunburst Arc with JWST: II. Observations of an Eta Carinae Analog at $z=2.37$
• Analytic approach to astrometric perturbations of critical curves by substructures
• Microlensing at Cosmological Distances: Event Rate Predictions in the Warhol Arc of MACS 0416
• LensWatch. II. Improved Photometry and Time-delay Constraints on the Strongly Lensed Type Ia Supernova 2022qmx ("SN Zwicky") with HST Template Observations
• BUFFALO Wild Wings: A High Precision Free-Form Lens Model of MACSJ0416 with Constraints on Dark Matter from Substructure and Highly Magnified Arcs
• Tiny galaxies and dark substructures: exploring the "dark" subhaloes in TNG50
• Spectroscopic characterisation of gravitationally lensed stars at high redshifts
• Along the Primary Curve: Simultaneous Source and Lens Reconstruction of Bright Arcs in Cluster Lenses
• Isotropic cosmological model with aetherically active axionic dark matter
• Updated constraints on the primordial power spectrum at sub-Mpc scales
• Source REconstruction of Arcs behind Cluster Halos (SourceREACH): A New Source Reconstruction Algorithm Optimized for Giant Arcs and Galaxy Cluster Lenses
• Interaction of the Cosmic Dark Fluid with Dynamic Aether: Parametric Mechanism of Axion Generation in the Early Universe
• Explanations for the two-component spectral energy distributions of gravitationally lensed stars at high redshifts
• Constraints from the Giant Arc in Abell 370. A New Framework for Understanding Systematic Errors in Cluster Lens Modeling. IV. Constraints from the Giant Arc in Abell 370
• Caustic crossings in giant arcs with extended dark matter objects
• MrMARTIAN: A Multi-resolution Mass Reconstruction Algorithm Combining Free-form and Analytic Components
• Across the Universe: GW231123 as a magnified and diffracted black hole merger
• Gravitational emissions and light curves of quasi-periodic orbits in Schwarzschild spacetime embedded in a Dehnen-type dark matter halo
• Probing Dark Matter Substructure with Image Number Anomaly in Strong Lensing Systems
• Kinematic Mapping of Giant Arcs: A New Method to Locate Lensing Critical Curves
• Extending the cosmic distance ladder two orders of magnitude with strongly lensed Cepheids, carbon AGB, and RGB stars