CLASH: New Multiple-Images Constraining the Inner Mass Profile of MACS J1206.2-0847

TL;DR

This paper presents a detailed strong-lensing analysis of galaxy cluster MACS J1206.2-0847, identifying numerous new multiply-lensed images to constrain its inner mass profile and test cosmological models.

Contribution

It provides the first detailed measurement of the cluster's inner mass profile using a large set of multiply-lensed images spanning a wide redshift range.

Findings

Inner profile slope of approximately -0.55

Effective Einstein radius of 28 arcseconds for z_s~2.5

Cluster's mass and lensing properties are high for its redshift

Abstract

We present a strong-lensing analysis of the galaxy cluster MACS J1206.2-0847 ($z$=0.44) using UV, Optical, and IR, HST/ACS/WFC3 data taken as part of the CLASH multi-cycle treasury program, with VLT/VIMOS spectroscopy for some of the multiply-lensed arcs. The CLASH observations, combined with our mass-model, allow us to identify 47 new multiply-lensed images of 12 distant sources. These images, along with the previously known arc, span the redshift range $1\la z\la5.5$, and thus enable us to derive a detailed mass distribution and to accurately constrain, for the first time, the inner mass-profile of this cluster. We find an inner profile slope of $d\log \Sigma/d\log \theta\simeq -0.55\pm 0.1$ (in the range [1\arcsec, 53\arcsec], or $5\la r \la300$ kpc), as commonly found for relaxed and well-concentrated clusters. Using the many systems uncovered here we derive credible critical curves and Einstein radii for different source redshifts. For a source at $z_{s}\simeq2.5$, the critical curve encloses a large area with an effective Einstein radius of $\theta_{E}=28\pm3\arcsec$, and a projected mass of $1.34\pm0.15\times10^{14} M_{\odot}$. From the current understanding of structure formation in concordance cosmology, these values are relatively high for clusters at $z\sim0.5$, so that detailed studies of the inner mass distribution of clusters such as MACS J1206.2-0847 can provide stringent tests of the $\Lambda$CDM paradigm.