We carried out a detailed strong lensing analysis of a sub-sample of eight galaxy clusters of the Cluster Lensing And Supernova survey with Hubble (CLASH) in the redshift range of z cluster = [0.23 − 0.59] using extensive spectroscopic information, primarily from the Multi Unit Spectroscopic Explorer (MUSE) archival data and complemented with CLASH-VLT redshift measurements. The observed positions of the multiple images of strongly lensed background sources were used to constrain parametric models describing the cluster total mass distributions. Different models were tested in each cluster depending on the complexity of its mass distribution and on the number of detected multiple images. Four clusters show more than five spectroscopically confirmed multiple image families. In this sample, we did not make use of families that are only photometrically identified in order to reduce model degeneracies between the values of the total mass of a cluster source redshifts, in addition to systematics due to the potential misidentifications of multiple images. For the remaining four clusters, we used additional families without any spectroscopic confirmation to increase the number of strong lensing constraints up to the number of free parameters in our parametric models. We present spectroscopic confirmation of 27 multiply lensed sources, with no previous spectroscopic measurements, spanning over the redshift range of z src = [0.7 − 6.1]. Moreover, we confirm an average of 48 galaxy members in the core of each cluster thanks to the high efficiency and large field of view of MUSE. We used this information to derive precise strong lensing models, projected total mass distributions, and magnification maps. We show that, despite having different properties (i.e. number of mass components, total mass, redshift, etc), the projected total mass and mass density profiles of all clusters have very similar shapes when rescaled by independent measurements of M 200c and R 200c . Specifically, we measured the mean value of the projected total mass of our cluster sample within 10 (20)% of R 200c to be 0.13 (0.32) of M 200c , with a remarkably small scatter of 5 (6)%. Furthermore, the large number of high-z sources and the precise magnification maps derived in this work for four clusters add up to the sample of high-quality gravitational telescopes to be used to study the faint and distant Universe.

We report the spectroscopic confirmation of 22 new multiply lensed sources behind the Hubble Frontier Field (HFF) galaxy cluster MACS J0416.1−2403 (MACS 0416), using archival data from the Multi Unit Spectroscopic Explorer (MUSE) on the VLT. Combining with previous spectroscopic measurements of 15 other multiply imaged sources, we have obtained a sample of 102 secure multiple images with measured redshifts, the largest to date in a single strong lensing system. The newly confirmed sources are largely lowluminosity Lyman-α emitters with redshift in the range [3.08−6.15]. With such a large number of secure constraints, and a significantly improved sample of galaxy members in the cluster core, we have improved our previous strong lensing model and obtained a robust determination of the projected total mass distribution of MACS 0416. We find evidence of three cored dark-matter halos, adding to the known complexity of this merging system. The total mass density profile, as well as the sub-halo population, are found to be in good agreement with previous works. We update and make public the redshift catalog of MACS 0416 from our previous spectroscopic campaign with the new MUSE redshifts. We also release lensing maps (convergence, shear, magnification) in the standard HFF format.

Aims. We perform a comprehensive study of the total mass distribution of the galaxy cluster RXC J2248.7−4431 (z = 0.348) with a set of highprecision strong lensing models, which take advantage of extensive spectroscopic information on many multiply lensed systems. In the effort to understand and quantify inherent systematics in parametric strong lensing modelling, we explore a collection of 22 models in which we use different samples of multiple image families, different parametrizations of the mass distribution and cosmological parameters. Methods. As input information for the strong lensing models, we use the Cluster Lensing And Supernova survey with Hubble (CLASH) imaging data and spectroscopic follow-up observations, with the VIsible Multi-Object Spectrograph (VIMOS) and Multi Unit Spectroscopic Explorer (MUSE) on the Very Large Telescope (VLT), to identify and characterize bona fide multiple image families and measure their redshifts down to m F814W 26. A total of 16 background sources, over the redshift range 1.0−6.1, are multiply lensed into 47 images, 24 of which are spectroscopically confirmed and belong to ten individual sources. These also include a multiply lensed Lyman-α blob at z = 3.118. The cluster total mass distribution and underlying cosmology in the models are optimized by matching the observed positions of the multiple images on the lens plane. Bayesian Markov chain Monte Carlo techniques are used to quantify errors and covariances of the best-fit parameters. Results. We show that with a careful selection of a large sample of spectroscopically confirmed multiple images, the best-fit model can reproduce their observed positions with a rms scatter of 0. 3 in a fixed flat ΛCDM cosmology, whereas the lack of spectroscopic information or the use of inaccurate photometric redshifts can lead to biases in the values of the model parameters. We find that the best-fit parametrization for the cluster total mass distribution is composed of an elliptical pseudo-isothermal mass distribution with a significant core for the overall cluster halo and truncated pseudo-isothermal mass profiles for the cluster galaxies. We show that by adding bona fide photometric-selected multiple images to the sample of spectroscopic families, one can slightly improve constraints on the model parameters. In particular, we find that the degeneracy between the lens total mass distribution and the underlying geometry of the Universe, which is probed via angular diameter distance ratios between the lens and sources and the observer and sources, can be partially removed. Allowing cosmological parameters to vary together with the cluster parameters, we find (at 68% confidence level) Ω m = 0.25 for a Universe with w = −1 and free curvature. Finally, using toy models mimicking the overall configuration of multiple images and cluster total mass distribution, we estimate the impact of the line-of-sight mass structure on the positional rms to be 0. 3 ± 0. 1. We argue that the apparent sensitivity of our lensing model to cosmograp...

We present a new strong lensing analysis of the galaxy cluster MACS J1206.2−0847 (MACS 1206), at z = 0.44, using deep spectroscopy from CLASH-VLT and VLT/MUSE archival data in combination with imaging from the Cluster Lensing and Supernova survey with Hubble. MUSE observations enable the spectroscopic identification of 23 new multiply imaged sources, extending the previous compilations by a factor of approximately five. In total, we use the positional measurements of 82 spectroscopic multiple images belonging to 27 families at z = 1.0 − 6.1 to reconstruct the projected total mass distribution of MACS 1206. Remarkably, 11 multiple images are found within 50 kpc of the brightest cluster galaxy, making this an unprecedented set of constraints for the innermost projected mass distribution of a galaxy cluster. We thus find that, although dynamically relaxed, the smooth matter component (dark matter plus hot gas) of MACS 1206 shows a significant asymmetry, which closely follows the asymmetric distribution of the stellar component (galaxy members and intracluster light). We determine the value of the innermost logarithmic slope of the projected total mass density profile and find it to be close to the canonical Navarro-Frenk-White value. We demonstrate that this quantity is very robust against different parametrizations of the diffuse mass component; however, this is not the case when only one central image is used in the mass reconstruction. We also show that the mass density profile from our new strong lensing model is in very good agreement with dynamical and X-ray measurements at larger radii, where they overlap.

During its four years of photometric observations, the Kepler space telescope detected thousands of exoplanets and exoplanet candidates. One of Kepler’s greatest heritages has been the confirmation and characterization of hundreds of multi-planet systems via transit timing variations (TTVs). However, there are many interesting candidate systems displaying TTVs on such long timescales that the existing Kepler observations are of insufficient length to confirm and characterize them by means of this technique. To continue with Kepler’s unique work, we have organized the “Kepler Object of Interest Network” (KOINet), a multi-site network formed of several telescopes located throughout America, Europe, and Asia. The goals of KOINet are to complete the TTV curves of systems where Kepler did not cover the interaction timescales well, to dynamically prove that some candidates are true planets (or not), to dynamically measure the masses and bulk densities of some planets, to find evidence for non-transiting planets in some of the systems, to extend Kepler’s baseline adding new data with the main purpose of improving current models of TTVs, and to build a platform that can observe almost anywhere on the northern hemisphere, at almost any time. KOINet has been operational since March 2014. Here we show some promising first results obtained from analyzing seven primary transits of KOI-0410.01, KOI-0525.01, KOI-0760.01, and KOI-0902.01, in addition to the Kepler data acquired during the first and second observing seasons of KOINet. While carefully choosing the targets we set demanding constraints on timing precision (at least 1 min) and photometric precision (as good as one part per thousand) that were achieved by means of our observing strategies and data analysis techniques. For KOI-0410.01, new transit data revealed a turnover of its TTVs. We carried out an in-depth study of the system, which is identified in the NASA Data Validation Report as a false positive. Among others, we investigated a gravitationally bound hierarchical triple star system and a planet–star system. While the simultaneous transit fitting of ground- andspace-based data allowed for a planet solution, we could not fully reject the three-star scenario. New data, already scheduled in the upcoming 2018 observing season, will set tighter constraints on the nature of the system.