PLCK G165.7+67.0: Analysis of a Massive Lensing Cluster in a Hubble Space Telescope Census of Submillimeter Giant Arcs Selected Using Planck/Herschel

TL;DR

This paper analyzes a massive galaxy cluster with strong gravitational lensing features, combining multi-wavelength observations to model its mass distribution and explore its dynamical state, revealing a bimodal structure possibly indicating a pre-merger phase.

Contribution

It provides a detailed strong-lensing analysis of the galaxy cluster PLCK G165.7+67.0, uncovering its bimodal mass distribution and estimating its total mass using combined lensing and spectroscopic data.

Findings

Identified 11 image multiplicities indicating strong lensing.

Measured a total mass of approximately 2.6 x 10^{14} solar masses within 250 kpc.

Suggested the cluster is a pre-merger with a bimodal mass distribution.

Abstract

We present Hubble Space Telescope WFC3-IR imaging in the fields of six apparently bright dusty star-forming galaxies (DSFGs) at $z$ = 2-4 identified by their rest-frame far-infrared colors using the Planck and Herschel space facilities. We detect near-infrared counterparts for all six submillimeter sources, allowing us to undertake strong-lensing analyses. One field in particular stands out for its prominent giant arcs, PLCK G165.7+67.0 (G165). After combining the color and morphological information, we identify 11 sets of image multiplicities in this one field. We construct a strong-lensing model constrained by this lensing evidence, which uncovers a bimodal spatial mass distribution, and from which we measure a mass of $(2.6 \pm 0.11)$ $\times$ $10^{14}$ $M_{\odot}$ within $\sim$250 kpc. The bright ($S_{350}$ $\approx$ 750 mJy) DSFG appears as two images: a giant arc with a spatial extent of 4.5" that is merging with the critical curve, and a lower-magnification counterimage that is detected in our new longer-wavelength ground- and space-based imaging data. Using our ground-based spectroscopy, we calculate a dynamical mass of $1.3^{+0.04}_{-0.70} \times 10^{15}$ $M_{\odot}$ to the same fixed radius, although this value may be inflated relative to the true value if the velocity distribution is enhanced in the line-of-sight direction. We suggest that the bimodal mass taken in combination with the weak X-ray flux and low SZ decrement may be explained as a pre-merger for which the intracluster gas is diluted along the line of sight, while the integrated surface mass density is supercritical to strong-lensing effects.