A variable active galactic nucleus at z = 2.06 triply-imaged by the galaxy cluster MACS J0035.4−2015
Journal article, 2023
We report the discovery of a triply imaged active galactic nucleus (AGN), lensed by the galaxy cluster MACS J0035.4−2015 (z d = 0.352). The object is detected in Hubble Space Telescope imaging taken for the RELICS program. It appears to have a quasi-stellar nucleus consistent with a point-source, with a de-magnified radius of re ≲ 100 pc. The object is spectroscopically confirmed to be an AGN at z spec = 2.063 ± 0.005 showing broad rest-frame UV emission lines, and detected in both X-ray observations with Chandra and in ALCS ALMA band 6 (1.2 mm) imaging. It has a relatively faint rest-frame UV luminosity for a quasar-like object, MUV, 1450 = −19.7 ± 0.2. The object adds to just a few quasars or other X-ray sources known to be multiply lensed by a galaxy cluster. Some diffuse emission from the host galaxy is faintly seen around the nucleus, and there is a faint object nearby sharing the same multiple-imaging symmetry and geometric redshift, possibly an interacting galaxy or a star-forming knot in the host. We present an accompanying lens model, calculate the magnifications and time delays, and infer the physical properties of the source. We find the rest-frame UV continuum and emission lines to be dominated by the AGN, and the optical emission to be dominated by the host galaxy of modest stellar mass M✶ ≃ 109.2 M⊙. We also observe some variation in the AGN emission with time, which may suggest that the AGN used to be more active. This object adds a low-redshift counterpart to several relatively faint AGN recently uncovered at high redshifts with HST and JWST.
gravitational lensing: strong
cosmology: observations
galaxies: nuclei
galaxies: Seyfert
quasars
galaxies: clusters: individual: MACS J0035.4-2015
Author
Lukas J. Furtak
Ben-Gurion University of the Negev
Ramesh Mainali
NASA Goddard Space Flight Center
University of Arizona
Catholic University of America
A. Zitrin
Ben-Gurion University of the Negev
Adèle Plat
University of Arizona
S. Fujimoto
The University of Texas at Austin
Megan Donahue
Michigan State University
Erica J. Nelson
University of Colorado at Boulder
F. E. Bauer
Pontificia Universidad Catolica de Chile
Millennium Institute of Astrophysics
Ryosuke Uematsu
Kyoto University
G. B. Caminha
Max Planck Society
F. Andrade-Santos
Harvard-Smithsonian Center for Astrophysics
Berklee College of Music
L. Bradley
Space Telescope Science Institute (STScI)
Karina I. Caputi
University of Groningen
Cosmic Dawn Center (DAWN)
Stephane Charlot
Institut d 'Astrophysique de Paris
Jacopo Chevallard
University of Oxford
Dan Coe
Space Telescope Science Institute (STScI)
Johns Hopkins University
Emma Curtis-Lake
University of Hertfordshire
D. Espada
Universidad de Granada
B. Frye
University of Arizona
Kirsten Knudsen
Chalmers, Space, Earth and Environment, Astronomy and Plasmaphysics
Anton M. Koekemoer
Space Telescope Science Institute (STScI)
K. Kohno
University of Tokyo
Research Center for the Early Universe
V. Kokorev
University of Groningen
N. Laporte
University of Cambridge
M. M. Lee
Technical University of Denmark (DTU)
Cosmic Dawn Center (DAWN)
Brian C. Lemaux
Gemini Observatory North
University of California
Georgios E. Magdis
Niels Bohr Institute
Cosmic Dawn Center (DAWN)
Technical University of Denmark (DTU)
Keren Sharon
University of Michigan
Daniel P. Stark
University of Arizona
Yuanyuan Su
University of Kentucky
Katherine A. Suess
University of California
Kavli Institute for Particle Astrophysics and Cosmology
Yoshihiro Ueda
Kyoto University
H. Umehata
Nagoya University
Alba Vidal-García
Spanish National Observatory (OAN)
Laboratoire de Physique de l’Ecole Normale Supérieure
John F. Wu
Space Telescope Science Institute (STScI)
Johns Hopkins University
Monthly Notices of the Royal Astronomical Society
0035-8711 (ISSN) 1365-2966 (eISSN)
Vol. 522 4 5142-5151Subject Categories
Astronomy, Astrophysics and Cosmology
Atom and Molecular Physics and Optics
DOI
10.1093/mnras/stad1321