A spectacular giant arc in the massive cluster lens MACSJ1206.2-0847
H. Ebeling, C.J. Ma, J.-P. Kneib, E. Jullo, N.J.D. Courtney, E., Barrett, A.C. Edge, J.-F. Le Borgne

TL;DR
This paper studies the massive galaxy cluster MACSJ1206.2-0847, revealing a giant gravitational arc, analyzing its properties through X-ray, optical, and lensing data, and highlighting discrepancies in mass estimates indicative of ongoing merger activity.
Contribution
The study combines multi-wavelength observations and multiple mass estimation techniques to analyze the complex structure and dynamics of MACSJ1206.2-0847, revealing evidence of a merger.
Findings
Discovery of a 15" giant arc at z=1.036
Mass estimates from lensing and X-ray are inconsistent
Evidence of substructure and ongoing merger activity
Abstract
We discuss the X-ray and optical properties of the massive galaxy cluster MACSJ1206.2-0847 (z=0.4385), discovered in the Massive Cluster Survey (MACS). Our Chandra observation of the system yields a total X-ray luminosity of 2.4 x 10^45 erg/s (0.1-2.4 keV) and a global gas temperature of (11.6 +/- 0.7) keV, very high values typical of MACS clusters. In both optical and X-ray images MACSJ1206 appears close to relaxed in projection, with a pronounced X-ray peak at the location of the brightest cluster galaxy (BCG); we interpret this feature as the remnant of a cold core. A spectacular giant gravitational arc, 15" in length, bright (V~21) and unusually red (R-K=4.3), is seen 20" west of the BCG; we measure a redshift of z=1.036 for the lensed galaxy. From our HST image of the cluster we identify the giant arc and its counter image as a seven-fold imaged system. An excess of X-ray emission…
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