COOL-LAMPS III: Discovery of a 25".9 Separation Quasar Lensed by a Merging Galaxy Cluster

TL;DR

This paper reports the discovery of the widest known gravitationally lensed quasar with a 25.9 arcsecond separation, caused by a merging galaxy cluster at redshift 0.61, providing new insights into cluster lensing and mass distribution.

Contribution

It presents the discovery and analysis of a rare wide-separation lensed quasar caused by a merging galaxy cluster, including lens modeling and mass estimates.

Findings

Discovered the widest known lensed quasar with 25.9" separation.

Identified a merging galaxy cluster with two sub-clusters and complex lensing features.

Estimated cluster masses and observed strong lensing of multiple background sources.

Abstract

In the third paper from the COOL-LAMPS Collaboration, we report the discovery of COOL J0542-2125, a gravitationally lensed quasar at $z=1.84$, observed as three images due to an intervening massive galaxy cluster at $z=0.61$. The lensed quasar images were identified in a search for lens systems in recent public optical imaging data and have separations on the sky up to 25".9, wider than any previously known lensed quasar. The galaxy cluster acting as a strong lens appears to be in the process of merging, with two sub-clusters separated by $\sim 1$ Mpc in the plane of the sky, and their central galaxies showing a radial velocity difference of $\sim 1000$ km/s. Both cluster cores show strongly lensed images of an assortment of background sources, as does the region between them. A preliminary strong lens model implies masses of $M(<250\ \rm{kpc}) = 1.79^{+0.16} _{-0.01} \times 10^{14} M_{\odot}$ and $M(<250\ \rm{kpc}) = 1.48^{+0.04}_{-0.10} \times 10^{14} M_{\odot}$ for the East and West sub-clusters, respectively. This line of sight is also coincident with a ROSAT ALL-sky Survey source, centered between the two confirmed cluster halos reminiscent of other major cluster-scale mergers.