A Redshift for the First Einstein Ring, MG 1131+0456

TL;DR

This paper reports the spectroscopic redshift of the first Einstein ring, MG 1131+0456, revealing it as a lensed type-2 quasar at z=1.849, and presents X-ray observations that help identify lensed active galactic nuclei.

Contribution

It provides the first spectroscopic redshift for the lensed source in MG 1131+0456 and introduces a new method to identify lensed AGN using low-resolution X-ray surveys.

Findings

Redshift of the lensed source is z=1.849.

Chandra X-ray observations resolve the system into two sources.

A new candidate identification method for lensed AGN is proposed.

Abstract

MG 1131+0456 is a radio-selected gravitational lens, and is the first known Einstein ring. Discovered in 1988, the system consists of a bright radio source imaged into a ring and two compact, flat-spectrum components separated by 2.1 arcsec. The ring is optically faint (R = 23.3), rising steeply into the near- and mid-infrared (K = 17.8; W2 = 13.4). The system has been intensively studied in the intervening years, including high-resolution radio imaging, radio monitoring, and near-infrared imaging with Hubble and Keck. The lensing galaxy is at z(lens) = 0.844. However, to date, no spectroscopic redshift had been reported for the lensed source. Using archival Keck data from 1997, we report the robust detection of a single narrow emission line at 5438 Angstroms, which we associate with CIII] 1909 from a type-2 quasar at z(source) = 1.849. Support for this redshift identification comes from weaker emission associated with CIV 1549 and HeII 1640, typical of type-2 quasars, as well as the lack of emission lines in archival near-infrared Keck spectroscopy. We also present, for the first time, Cycle 1 Chandra observations of MG 1131+0456, which clearly resolves into two point sources with a combined flux of ~1e-13 erg/cm2/s and a best-fit column density of ~3e22 /cm2. We suggest a new method to identify candidate lensed active galactic nuclei from low-resolution X-ray surveys such as eROSITA by targeting sources that have anomalously high X-ray luminosity given their mid-infrared luminosity.