The Carousel Lens: A Well-Modeled Strong Lens with Multiple Lensed Sources

TL;DR

This paper presents a detailed analysis of a well-modeled strong gravitational lens system with multiple sources, providing insights into the mass distribution of the lens and properties of high-redshift galaxies.

Contribution

The study introduces a comprehensive lens model for a complex cluster system with multiple sources, combining spectroscopic and imaging data for precise mass and redshift estimates.

Findings

Mass of the lens is estimated at 4.78×10^13 solar masses.

Confirmed five source galaxies with spectroscopic redshifts.

Predicted redshift of an unconfirmed source at approximately 4.52.

Abstract

Over the past few years alone, the lensing community has discovered thousands of strong lens candidates, and spectroscopically confirmed hundreds of them. In this time of abundance, it becomes pragmatic to focus our time and resources on the few extraordinary systems, in order to most efficiently study the universe. In this paper, we present such a system: DESI-090.9854-35.9683, a cluster-scale lens at $z_{\rm l} = 0.49$, with seven observed lensed sources around the core, and additional lensed sources further out in the cluster. From the number and the textbook configuration of the lensed images, a tight constraint on the mass potential of the lens is possible. This would allow for detailed analysis on the dark and luminous matter content within galaxy clusters, as well as a probe into dark energy and high-redshift galaxies. We present our spatially resolved kinematic measurements of this system from the Very Large Telescope Multi Unit Spectroscopic Explorer, which confirm five of these source galaxies (in ascending order, at $z_{\rm s} = 0.962, 0.962, 1.166, 1.432,$ and $1.432$). With previous Hubble Space Telescope imaging in the F140W and F200LP bands, we also present a simple two power-law profile flux-based lens model that, for a cluster lens, well models the five lensed arc families with redshifts. We determine the mass to be $M(< \theta_{\rm E}) = 4.78\times10^{13} M_{\odot}$ for the primary mass potential. From the model, we extrapolate the redshift of one of the two source galaxies not yet spectroscopically confirmed to be at $z_{\rm s}=4.52^{+1.03}_{-0.71}$.