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

Kavli Affiliate: Michael D. Gladders

| First 5 Authors: Michael N. Martinez, Kate A. Napier, Aidan P. Cloonan, Ezra Sukay, Katya Gozman

| Summary:

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.

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