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Register a new userThe case for gravitational millilensing in the multiply--imaged quasar B1152+199
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Previous Very Long Baseline Interferometry (VLBI) observations of the quasar B1152+199 at 5GHz has revealed two images of a strongly lensed jet with seemingly discordant morphologies. Whereas the jet appears straight in one of the images, the other exhibits slight curvature on milliarcsecond scales. This is unexpected from the lensing solution and has been interpreted as possible evidence for secondary, small-scale lensing (millilensing) by a compact object with a mass of $~10^5$-$10^7 M_odot$ located close to the curved image. The probability for such a superposition is extremely low unless the millilens population has very high surface number density. Here, we revisit the case for millilensing in B1152+199 by combining new global-VLBI data at 8.4GHz with two datasets from the European VLBI Network (EVN) at 5GHz (archival) and at 22GHz (new dataset), and the previously published 5GHz Very Long Baseline Array (VLBA) data. We find that the new data with a more circular synthesized beam, exhibits no apparent milliarcsecond-scale curvature in image B. Various observations of the object spanning $sim$15 years apart enable us to improve the constraints on lens system (thanks also to the improved astrometry resulting from 22GHz observations) to the point that the only plausible explanation left for the apparent curvature is the artifact due to the shape of the synthesized beam.
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We present a series of high resolution radio and optical observations of the CLASS gravitational lens system B1152+199 obtained with the Multi-Element Radio-Linked Interferometer Network (MERLIN), Very Long Baseline Array (VLBA) and Hubble Space Telescope (HST). Based on the milliarcsecond-scale substructure of the lensed radio components and precise optical astrometry for the lensing galaxy, we construct models for the system and place constraints on the galaxy mass profile. For a single galaxy model with surface mass density Sigma(r) propto r^-beta, we find that 0.95 < beta < 1.21 at 2-sigma confidence. Including a second deflector to represent a possible satellite galaxy of the primary lens leads to slightly steeper mass profiles.
We present CIV BLR modeling results for the multiply imaged $z=2.805$ quasar SDSS J2222+2745. Using data covering a 5.3 year baseline after accounting for gravitational time delays, we find models that can reproduce the observed emission-line spectra and integrated CIV fluctuations. The models suggest a thick disk BLR that is inclined by $sim$40 degrees to the observers line of sight and with a emissivity weighted median radius of $r_{rm median} = 33.0^{+2.4}_{-2.1}$ light days. The kinematics are dominated by near-circular Keplerian motion with the remainder inflowing. The rest-frame lag one would measure from the models is $tau_{rm median} = 36.4^{+1.8}_{-1.8}$ days, which is consistent with measurements based on cross-correlation. We show a possible geometry and transfer function based on the model fits and find that the model-produced velocity-resolved lags are consistent with those from cross-correlation. We measure a black hole mass of $log_{10}(M_{rm BH}/M_odot) = 8.31^{+0.07}_{-0.06}$, which requires a scale factor of $log_{10}(f_{{rm mean},sigma}) = 0.20^{+0.09}_{-0.07}$.
A gravitational lens (GL)-search program, initiated in 1990 at the Nordic Optical Telescope (NOT), has revealed several possible GL-candidates among a sample of 168 quasars (QSOs), chosen from three lists compiled by C. Hazard, D. Reimers and J. Surdej, respectively. Some of these candidates, selected for having close companions (within 5 arcseconds), were imaged in several filters and their colours compared. Low dispersion spectra of the most promising candidates were also obtained at the NOT and ESO New Technology Telescope (NTT). None of these has proved to be strong candidates of gravitational lensing effects. We present this new sample of QSOs and combine it with previously published optical QSO samples in a statistical analysis to yield constraints on flat cosmologies and galaxy velocity dispersions. Finally, by simulating larger samples of quasars and gravitational lenses, we discuss how the uncertainties affecting our present results would be changed.
We present the first results of a 4.5 year monitoring campaign of the three bright images of multiply imaged $z=2.805$ quasar SDSS J2222+2745 using the Gemini North Multi-Object Spectrograph (GMOS-N) and the Nordic Optical Telescope (NOT). We take advantage of gravitational time delays to construct light curves surpassing 6 years in duration and achieve average spectroscopic cadence of 10 days during the 8 months of visibility per season. Using multiple secondary calibrators and advanced reduction techniques, we achieve percent-level spectrophotometric precision and carry out an unprecedented reverberation mapping analysis, measuring both integrated and velocity-resolved time lags for CIV. The full line lags the continuum by $tau_{rm cen} = 36.5^{+2.9}_{-3.9}$ rest-frame days. We combine our measurement with published CIV lags and derive the $r_{rm BLR}-L$ relationship $log_{10}( tau / {rm day}) = (1.00pm 0.08) + (0.48pm 0.04) log_{10}[lambda L_lambda(1350{r{A}})/10^{44}~{rm erg ~s}^{-1}]$ with 0.32$pm$0.06 dex intrinsic scatter. The velocity-resolved lags are consistent with circular Keplerian orbits, with $tau_{rm cen} = 86.2^{+4.5}_{-5.0}$, $25^{+11}_{-15}$, and $7.5^{+4.2}_{-3.5}$ rest-frame days for the core, blue wing, and red wing, respectively. Using $sigma_{rm line}$ with the mean spectrum and assuming $log_{10} (f_{{rm mean},sigma}) = 0.52 pm 0.26$, we derive $log_{10}(M_{rm BH}/M_{odot}) = 8.63 pm 0.27$. Given the quality of the data, this system represents a unique benchmark for calibration of $M_{rm BH}$ estimators at high redshift. Future work will present dynamical modeling of the data to constrain the virial factor $f$ and $M_{rm BH}$.
We have identified three multiply imaged galaxies in Hubble Space Telescope images of the redshift z=0.68 cluster responsible for the large-separation quadruply lensed quasar, SDSS J1004+4112. Spectroscopic redshifts have been secured for two of these systems using the Keck I 10m telescope. The most distant lensed galaxy, at z=3.332, forms at least four images, and an Einstein ring encompassing 3.1 times more area than the Einstein ring of the lensed QSO images at z=1.74, due to the greater source distance. For a second multiply imaged galaxy, we identify Ly_alpha emission at a redshift of z=2.74. The cluster mass profile can be constrained from near the center of the brightest cluster galaxy, where we observe both a radial arc and the fifth image of the lensed quasar, to the Einstein radius of the highest redshift galaxy, ~110 kpc. Our preliminary modeling indicates that the mass approximates an elliptical body, with an average projected logarithmic gradient of ~-0.5. The system is potentially useful for a direct measurement of world models in a previously untested redshift range.
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