A&A 378, 394-407 (2001)
DOI: 10.1051/0004-6361:20011216
L. E. Campusano1 - R. Pelló2 - J.-P. Kneib2 - J.-F. Le Borgne2 - B. Fort3 - R. Ellis4 - Y. Mellier3,5 - I. Smail6
1 - Observatorio Astronómico Cerro Calán, Departamento de Astronomía,
U. de Chile, Casilla 36-D, Santiago, Chile
2 -
Observatoire Midi-Pyrénées, UMR 5572,
14 avenue E. Belin, 31400 Toulouse, France
3 -
Institut d'Astrophysique de Paris, 98 bis boulevard Arago, 75014 Paris,
France
4 -
Astronomy 105-24, Caltech, Pasadena, CA 91125, USA
5 -
Observatoire de Paris, DEMIRM, 61 avenue de l'Observatoire,
75014 Paris, France
6 -
Department of Physics, University of Durham,
South Road, Durham DH1 3LE, UK
Received 24 April 2001 / Accepted 14 August 2001
Abstract
We present the first results of a spectroscopic survey of faint lensed galaxies
in the core of the galaxy cluster AC114 (z=0.312) obtained from observations with the FORS1
spectrograph mounted on the VLT-Antu (Unit Telescope 1). The galaxies were chosen
according to both lensing and photometric redshift criteria
in areas close to the high-z critical lines predicted by the
gravitational lens model of Natarajan et al. (NKSE, 1998) for this cluster.
All the target galaxies are found to correspond to
background galaxies with redshift values in the [0.7, 3.5]
interval. Our spectroscopic observations confirm the predicted
lensing redshifts for 3 of the multiply-imaged galaxies, and together
with predictions of the NKSE model led to the discovery
of a new 5-image configuration at redshift z=3.347. A revised NKS model,
compatible with the redshift of this new multiple-image system,
was generated and employed to calculate the gravitational amplifications
of all the observed galaxies. The galaxies corresponding to the
multiple-image systems are found to be intrinsically fainter,
between 0.5 and 1.5 magnitudes,
than the limiting magnitudes of existing blank field studies.
When all the observed background galaxies are considered, the resulting
intrinsic absolute magnitudes range from
to -19, with a median value of -20.5.
Therefore, a large gain in sensitivity towards low luminosity high-z objects
can actually be obtained, in agreement
with theoretical expectations. This method can be used advantageously
to probe the high redshift Universe and, in particular, its
application to an ensemble of massive cluster cores could
constraint the faint end of luminosity function of high redshift galaxies.
Key words: cosmology: observations - galaxies: clusters: individual (AC114) - galaxies: fundamental parameters - gravitational lensing - galaxies: redshifts - general
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pix |
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m | Ref. | |
(ksec) | (
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(
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(nm) | (nm) | ![]() |
||
U | 20.0 | 1.3 | 0.36 | 365 | 40 | 27.1 | a, 3 |
B | 9.0 | 1.2 | 0.39 | 443 | 69 | 27.7 | 4 |
V | 21.6 | 1.1 | 0.47 | 547 | 53 | 26.7 | b, 2 |
V555 | 20.7 | 0.3 | 0.10 | 545 | 105 | 25.8 | b, 1 |
R | 16.8 | 0.13 | 0.10 | 694 | 122 | 25.7 | c, 1 |
I814 | 20.7 | 0.3 | 0.10 | 801 | 134 | 24.9 | b, 1 |
J | 7.2 | 0.9 | 0.29 | 1253 | 169 | 21.5 | 2 |
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10.8 | 0.8 | 0.29 | 2164 | 164 | 20.0 | 2 |
Natural telescopes have been successfully used in studying
distant galaxies at almost all wavebands from the UV (Bézecourt et al
1999), Optical (e.g. Ebbels et al. 1998; Pelló et al. 1999a, 1999b),
Mid-Infrared (Altieri et al. 1999; Metcalfe et al. 1999) to Submm
(Smail et al. 1997; Ivison et al. 2000). A
difficulty of the optical/near-infrared, much less critical in other
wavebands, is the contamination by cluster galaxies which are not
always easily separated from the background population. Furthermore,
because of the shallow slope of the galaxy number counts at faint
magnitude, the magnification effect dilutes the density of background
galaxies in the visible/near-infrared bands, hence for a given
magnitude limit, there will be effectively fewer galaxies seen through
a cluster lens than in blank fields (Broadhurst 1995; Fort
et al. 1997; Mayen & Soucail 2000). For studies of the luminosity
function of high redshift galaxies, a large number (typically
)
of these galaxies are needed. Such a number can be
collected through observations, like the ones reported here, of a
sample of about 10 massive cluster-lenses. Our selection criteria for the
distant galaxy candidates are based on a combination of lensing (Kneib
et al. 1994, 1996; Ebbels et al. 1998) and photometric redshift
criteria (e.g. Mobasher et al. 1996;
Lanzetta et al. 1996; Gwyn & Hartwick 1996; Sawicki et al. 1997;
Giallongo et al. 1998; Fernández-Soto et al. 1999, Arnouts
et al. 1999; Furusawa et al. 2000; Bolzonella et al. 2000).
Although the lensing criteria in the cluster core is
sufficient (once the mass distribution of the cluster is well
determined) for the selection of distant galaxies (Ebbels et al. 1998),
photometric
redshifts are very effective to select them in the outer part of the
cluster and are also essential in identifying distant galaxies not
resolved by HST and located in the cluster core. Furthermore,
the photometric properties of the faint galaxies helps to optimize the
instrument choice for the spectroscopic follow-up (visible vs. near-IR
bands).
In this paper, we focus on a particularly interesting cluster-lens,
AC114 (also named ACO S1077, Abell et al. 1989), a z=0.312 rich
cluster showing a large number of multiple-images at high-z (Smail
et al. 1995; Natarajan et al. 1998, hereafter NKSE). The redshift of
the gravitational pair S1/S2, z=1.86, was obtained by Smail et al. (1995) with AAT, and later confirmed with NTT with a total
exposure time of hours. Based on this redshift, the
detailed mass-model derived by NKSE predicts the redshifts of 4
multiple images (A, B, C and D), ranging from
to 2.5.
Here, we present the results obtained from a spectroscopic survey of
lensed galaxies in AC114 conducted with VLT/FORS1 at Paranal (program
64.O-0439A). Sections 2 and 3
present a summary of the observations, selection criteria and data
reduction. A detailed discussion of the spectroscopic results is given
in Sect. 4. In Sect. 5, we briefly discuss the improved lens
model for AC114, which now includes the spectroscopic redshift of 2
multiple images as constraints. The properties of these amplified
galaxies are described in Sect. 6. Discussion and conclusions are
given in Sects. 7 and 8. Throughout this paper, we adopt H0 = 50 km s-1 Mpc-1,
and
.
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Figure 1: HST/ WFPC2 image (F702W) of AC114 cluster core with the identified high redshift galaxies and multiple images. The critical lines (dotted lines) are shown for z=3.35. Circles show the position of the observed E system, and crosses correspond to the positions predicted by the NKSE model for the counter images of E1. |
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In the very central part of the cluster, the high-redshift galaxy
candidates were mainly selected using lensing criteria (e.g.
NKSE). Photometric redshifts were primarily used for the selection of
background galaxies lying on the outer part of the cluster core, where
lensing criteria are much less efficient, as well as in the core for
cases when lensing failed to give any prediction - specially when the
image of the galaxy was barely resolved. The photometric catalogue was
constructed, after matching the seeing values on the different images,
using the SExtractor package (Bertin & Arnouts 1996). Magnitudes in
this paper refer to the Vega system. Photometric redshifts
(hereafter
)
were computed through a standard minimization
procedure, using the hyperz code (Bolzonella et al. 2000).
This procedure uses a template library of spectra mainly derived
from the new Bruzual & Charlot evolutionary code (GISSEL98,
Bruzual & Charlot 1993). Photometric redshifts were derived from magnitudes
computed within a 4
diameter aperture. In the case of highly distorted images,
located close to bright cluster members, such as A, B and C,
photometry was obtained through special apertures adapted to the shape
of each object so that the same
physical region was considered for the magnitude calculations in all
the available images. Because of the lack of a B-band image, the error
bars of the photometric redshifts employed in the target selection
were found to be typically
to 0.3, with
degenerate solutions in some cases. Given that
the CCD images cover fields of different size, the
photometric selection could be done effectively only on the central
HST field covering
.
Twelve galaxy candidates,
with
and R < 24 were identified in this region.
Id. | RA (J2000.0) | DEC. (J2000.0) | U | B | V | R | I814 | J |
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A1 | 22:58:49.58 | -34:47:53.0 | 23.72 | 23.37 | 22.35 | 23.07 | 23.32 | 22.07 | 21.43 |
A2 | 22:58:47.77 | -34:48:04. | |||||||
B2 | 22:58:46.80 | -34:47:54.8 | 23.66 | 24.02 | 23.28 | 22.48 | 22.54 | 22.25 : | |
B3 | 22:58:46.53 | -34:47:57.1 | |||||||
C3 | 22:58:46.11 | -34:47:59.2 | 24.68 | 24.37 | 23.59 | 22.44 | 23.66 | - | - |
E1 | 22:58:46.67 | -34:48:22.4 | - | 25.06 | 24.32 | 23.77 | 23.59 | - | 22.68 |
S2 | 22:58:48.78 | -34:47:54.0 | 22.46 | 22.81 | 22.54 | 22.01 | 22.10 | 21.04 | 19.99 |
V1 | 22:58:50.59 | -34:48:24.9 | 24.27 | 24.77 | 24.69 | 23.94 | 23.23 | 21.59 | 19.80 |
V2 | 22:58:50.72 | -34:47:54.3 | 23.49 | 24.27 | 23.91 | 23.20 | 22.84 | 21.71 | 21.06 |
V3 | 22:58:51.61 | -34:47:59.6 | 24.70 | 25.31 | 24.94 | 23.79 | 22.78 | 21.04 | 19.37 |
V4 | 22:58:44.39 | -34:48:06.7 | 24.06 | 24.42 | 23.97 | 23.06 | 23.28 | 22.45 | 21.03 |
V5 | 22:58:45.75 | -34:48:15.8 | 23.80 | 24.50 | 23.84 | 22.97 | 22.68 | 21.10 | 19.25 |
V6 | 22:58:50.94 | -34:47:26.5 | 23.56 | 22.58 | 21.77 | 20.95 | 20.03 | 18.73 | |
V7 | 22:58:45.60 | -34:49:03.9 | 22.88 | 22.97 | 22.16 | 20.66 | 20.15 | 19.17 | 17.68 |
V8 | 22:58:54.12 | -34:48:28.2 | 23.71 | 20.37 | 18.92 | ||||
V9 | 22:58:56.56 | -34:46:58.6 | 22.67 | 17.00 | |||||
V10 | 22:58:56.98 | -34:48:45.8 | 25.29 | 17.72 | |||||
V11 | 22:58:57.46 | -34:47:06.8 | 23.61 | 18.39 | |||||
V12 | 22:58:38.15 | -34:48:25.3 | 22.84 | 20.58 | 19.30 | 17.43 | |||
V13 | 22:58:38.70 | -34:50:08.2 | 24.24 | 20.67 | 18.69 | ||||
V14 | 22:58:38.71 | -34:50:08.5 | 24.04 | 21.60 | 19.77 | ||||
V15 | 22:58:36.21 | -34:49:40.5 | 25.28 | 17.03 | |||||
V16 | 22:58:34.59 | -34:49:30.1 | 23.08 | 18.15 | |||||
V17 | 22:58:34.80 | -34:50:34.1 | 26.26 | 18.75 | |||||
V18 | 22:58:33.65 | -34:49:42.2 | 23.40 |
Given that both lensing and photometric redshifts were available for most of the high-z galaxy candidates lying in the cluster core, and that the spectroscopic set-up allowed the observation of only a few of them, we proceeded mostly with the candidates with consistent redshift predictions. The designation of the observed objects is the same as that of NKSE, when available, otherwise they are labelled "V" with numbers increasing with their distance from the cluster center. The galaxies in the core that were actually observed, are identified in Fig. 1. In Table 2, positions and UBVRIJK photometry are given for the all the observed background galaxies.
The spectra of the high-redshift galaxy candidates were obtained
on the night of October 5, 1999, with
the ESO VLT Antu (UT1) telescope and its FORS1 spectrograph working in
the multi-object mode. A slit width of 1
and
the grism G300V were used, resulting in a wavelength coverage of
Å, and a resolution of R=500. Three masks,
or slit configurations, were constructed and used with exposure times of
2h 15m, 1h 30m and 1h 17m, respectively. Each of them spans a
field, with 19 to 20 slitlets having a fixed 22
length. The fact that the slit length was comparable to the angular
size of the cluster core, restricted to
the number of
strongly magnified galaxy candidates that could be observed per mask.
Multiple images according to the NKSE model were given the first priority,
and the secondary targets to fill the remaining slitlets inside
the
cluster core were chosen from the photometric high-z list of candidates.
In order to improve the efficiency, we kept
some of the faintest candidates from the cluster core in several slit
configurations while changing the brighter targets lying in the outer
parts of the cluster. Once the priority targets had determined the position of
the center of the mask and its orientation, the slits outside the core could be used
only to observe galaxy cluster members. The seeing values during the
observations were in the range
,
except during
the last 1500 s of the exposure with the third mask (
). Spectra of the standard star Feige 110
were obtained during twilight for calibration. The data reduction was
done using standard IRAF packages.
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Figure 2:
Two dimensional spectra of background galaxies showing emission lines in the low redshift
domain:
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Figure 3:
Two dimensional spectra of background galaxies showing emission lines in the high redshift
domain:
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Sixty-two galaxy spectra were extracted from the integrations
performed through the 3 mask configurations selected for use with
FORS1. The inspection of the wavelength and flux calibrated spectra
revealed that twenty-seven were galaxies belonging
to AC114, twenty-three galaxies lay in the background of the cluster, and
ten were foreground galaxies (two spectra remained unidentified). In
this paper, we concentrate on the spectroscopically identified
background galaxies and, in particular, on those located in the central
region of AC114. The results on the cluster
galaxies will be presented in a forthcoming paper.
The 2-dimensional spectra of the background
galaxies with
are shown in Fig. 2,
where the arrows indicate the position of the [OII] line at 3727 Å.
Similarly, Fig. 3 displays the 2-dimensional spectra for
the
interval.
Figure 4 displays calibrated one-dimensional
spectra of the observed background
galaxies with
,
showing the identified emission and
absorption features. The designation of the galaxies
is the same as indicated in Table 2.
The redshifts measured for the background galaxies are listed in Table 3,
together with the identified spectral features either in absorption or emission.
For the objects with a fair signal-to-noise value, the best fit galaxy spectral
type is given, from E to Im.
A discussion of the
redshift determinations of the galaxies lying in the cluster core is
given below, which is specially delicate for the spectra presenting only one strong
spectral feature. Table 3 summarizes
the redshift determinations and the main spectral features identified.
Excepting one uncertain case (V1, see Sect. 6.5),
all of the 10 high-z candidates selected in the
cluster core region were found to have spectroscopic redshifts between
and 3.5,
in good agreement with the redshift selection criteria. The strongly lensed
galaxies in the cluster core are discussed individually in
Sect. 6.
For comparison, Table 5 lists the lensing (NKSE) redshifts
for the multiple systems and the photometric redshifts for the
the observed galaxies in the cluster core, all of them with
predicted redshifts greater than .
The only
exception is V3, for which the a posteriori
is lower than the initial estimate,
,
and in fair agreement with the
spectroscopic value. Overall, our method to identify lensed galaxies
with z > 1.0 had a success rate
.
Although the
used for target selection had
larger uncertainties than those given in Table 5 (because of the lack
of deep B photometry), they were an effective complement to the
specially in the case of barely resolved objects which did
not have a predicted
,
and turned out to be fully compatible with
the spectroscopic redshift within the errors. Table 5 also
lists the
for the rest of the observed background galaxies.
From Table 5, it can be seen that the
predicted
by the NKSE for A1/A2 is in remarkable agreement with the measured
redshift for the system. Although the redshift determination of the systems
B and C is more uncertain, they suggest that the
predictions
of the NKSE underestimate the actual values.
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Figure 4: Spectra of the galaxies in the background of AC114 having the best signal-to-noise ratios. The label on the top of each spectrum gives the identification number of the galaxy, according to Table 2, and its measured redshift. Fluxes are given in arbitrary units, but provide the right order of magnitude in ergs s-1 cm-2 Å-1. |
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Id. | z | Main Spectral |
(spectra) | features | |
A1 | 1.6912 | MgII(2798 Å), FeII(1608 Å), AlII(1670 Å) |
A2 | 1.6912 | e. line 7518 Å |
B2 | 1.50/2.08 | e. line 4776 Å |
B3 | 1.50/2.08 | e. line 4776 Å |
C3 | 2.854 | Ly![]() |
E1 | 3.3470 | Ly![]() |
S2 | 1.8671 | blue cont., abs. lines (see text) |
V1 | ? | no clear feature |
V2 | 1.2143 | Im, [OII]3727 Å |
V3 | 0.706 | e. line 4776 Å |
V4 | 2.050 | CIV 1549 Å |
V5 | 1.0726 | S, e. line 7724.4 Å |
V6 | 0.4095 | Im, [OII]3727 Å, Balmer lines |
V7 | 0.5669 | Im, [OII]3727 Å[OIII]5007 Å, Balmer lines |
V8 | 0.58? | S, 4000 Å break, faint abs. lines |
V9 | 0.4120 | Red S, [OII]3727 Å, Balmer lines |
V10 | 0.8034 | Red S, [OII]3727 Å, Balmer lines |
V11 | 0.3805 | Im, [OII]3727 Å, [OIII]5007 Å |
V12 | 0.7200 | S, [OII]3727 Å, MgII, H, K, |
V13 | 0.7196 | S, [OII]3727 Å |
V14 | 0.9003 | Im, [OII]3727 Å, Balmer lines, MgII |
V15 | 0.9023 | E, H, K |
V16 | 0.8994 ? | S, [OII]3727 Å |
V17 | 0.7117 | S, H, K, Balmer lines |
V18 | 0.8135 ? | Im, [OII]3727 Å |
The object designated E1 in Table 3, showing a strong emission
line with z=3.347 when identified with Ly
(see Fig. 8),
provided a surprising prediction of the NKSE lens model, which to a large
extent was confirmed by the available data. E1, was selected as
a high-z galaxy based solely on its photometric properties; it did not
have a
estimate because it appeared as an unresolved
source. The NKSE mass model predicts that an object at the position of
E1 with a redshift of 3.347 is just one of the five images of
a multiply-imaged background object.
A posteriori, a close inspection of the WFPC2 images
reveals E1 as a compact unresolved component with a faint NW
extension. The NKSE model predicted also the positions of the other
four images: a close inspection of the WFPC2 data actually showed
images very close to the expected locations(see Fig. 1),
all of them with a morphology similar to E1 (Fig. 5) and apparently
following the parity predicted by the lens model. Using E1, E2 and E5, the three
images which are not contaminated by bright objects, we could verify,
within the errors, that they actually have the same spectral energy
distribution (SED), which is
a necessary condition for gravitational images of the same source.
The discovery of the E-system
is a very impressive success of the NKSE mass model for AC114,
and at the same time offers the possibility to improve the
model. This is done in the next section.
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Figure 5:
Morphology of the 5 images of the multiple system E, labelled from E1
to E5. The size of each chart is
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The NKSE lensing model has been revised in order to include the strong constraint imposed by the redshifts of two multiple-image systems: the 3-image S (z=1.86), that had been already included in the NKSE model, and the newly discovered 5-image E (z=3.347).
We follow the NKSE assumptions in tuning up the mass model, and we
refer to their work for more details. In summary, the mass distribution
is well represented by a cluster-scale component, the central clump, and
by an additional bimodal cluster-scale component, with the clumps centered
on the main galaxy concentrations. A galaxy-scale component is also
introduced, with galaxy halos centered on each bright cluster galaxy,
modelled by a pseudo-isothermal elliptical mass distribution,
with parameters scaled to the galaxy luminosity (truncation and core radius,
velocity dispersion). To improve the optimization of
the LENSTOOL software (Kneib 1993), we used a new
technique involving both a Monte-Carlo search as well as a parabolic
minimization (Golse et al. 2001). Only the positions of the
multiple images were fitted, and the free model parameters were the
ellipticity, orientation, velocity dispersion, core radius of the
cluster clump, and the ellipticity, orientation, velocity dispersion
and truncation radius of the central cD galaxy. Table 4
summarizes the characteristics of the new revised model for the
mass distribution. The best reduced
found is
.
Using the best fitted mass distribution, we checked that the mean
differences in amplification between the multiple images of the
same object agreed with the ones observed. In
particular for the E-system the measured values,
mags
and
mags, are in good agreement with model
predictions.
We also used the revised NKSE model to check the redshift predictions
for the other multiply-imaged objects in the cluster core. We found that the best
redshift estimates for the multiple-image systems A, B, C and D are:
,
,
and
.
These values are larger than the ones previously
predicted by NKSE (see Table 5), resulting in a better
agreement between the
and the spectroscopic redshifts (see
Sect. 6).
Table 5 lists the lensing redshifts for the multiply-imaged objects
observed with VLT in the cluster core, and the predicted magnification
for the 23 background galaxies observed with FORS1 (using
the revised model of AC114) and the measured spectroscopic redshifts.
Mass Component | x | y | a/b | ![]() |
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(arcsec) | (arcsec) | (deg) | (kpc) | (km/s) | (kpc) | ||
Central Clump |
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2.1 ![]() |
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Clump 1 |
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1.25 ![]() |
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100 (fixed) |
![]() |
1000 (fixed) |
Clump 2 | ![]() |
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1.35 ![]() |
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100 (fixed) |
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1000 (fixed) |
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-- | -- | -- | -- | 0.15 | ![]() |
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The identification of spectral features and the main issues concerning the multiple images and the highly amplified galaxies are discussed in this section.
In this case, the redshift is mainly based on a single emission line, which
is found in both the spectra of A1 and A2 at 7518 Å. This line is
identified as MgII (at 2798 Å), in good agreement with the shape of
the continuum. Besides, the spectrum of A1 also displays absorption lines,
mainly FeII (1608 Å) and AlII (1670 Å). A comparison between the spectra
of A1 and the local starburst NGC 4214 (Leitherer et al. 1996) is given in Fig. 6.
In addition, this redshift value is fully compatible with both the
multiple-image configuration (
derived from the
revised lensing model) and the
(see Table 5). With
z=1.691, we do not expect to find other strong emission lines, such
as [OII] 3727 Å, CIV 1549 Å or Ly
,
because they are outside
the observed spectral range (Fig. 6).
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Figure 6: From top to bottom, comparison between the spectra of C3 (z=2.854), V4 (z=2.050) and A1 (z=1.691) (thin lines), and the local starburst galaxy NGC 4214 (Leitherer et al. 1996) (thick lines). The main spectral features are shown. |
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The previous determination of the redshift of the system S1/S2 by
Smail et al. (1995) is confirmed by the present results. We have
obtained a spectrum for S2. Figure 7 displays the high S/N
spectrum as well as the complete line identification. A detailed study
on this particular object will be presented in a further paper.
This object is also important because it allows a (positive) test of the
techniques at
,
a redshift domain which is
particularly difficult to check because of the lack of strong
spectral features.
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Figure 7: Spectrum of object S2, at z=1.867, which confirms the identification of Smail et al. 1995. Note the blue excess of this galaxy. |
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The initial redshift of the system was based on the spectrum taken for
E1. The spectrum, shown in Fig. 8, shows a strong emission line which
implies z=3.347 for the system when it is identified a Lyline at 1216 Å. As already mentioned, the use of this redshift and
the mass model for AC114 predicted the additional 4 images of the
system which are actually present with essentially the same morphology and
SED. In fact, this system is one of the two new strong constraints of
the new mass model presented in Sect. 5. Figure 9 shows the 2D spectra
of E1 and A2+E4; E4 shows a very faint emission line at exactly the same
wavelength as in E1, which is fully compatible with the lensing
interpretation. The equivalent (rest frame) width of Ly
is
Å. The error bar takes into account the
uncertainties on the continuum level.
The corrected absolute magnitude of the source galaxy,
,
together with the observed morphology, suggests a
Seyfert-like galaxy.
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Figure 8:
Spectrum of object E1, at z=3.347, showing a strong emission line,
identified as Ly![]() |
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Figure 9:
The 2-dimensional spectra of two images of the galaxy E. The arrows indicate the
position of Ly![]() |
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We have obtained spectra for B2 and B3. A single emission line
was found in both spectra, at
Å. Photometric
redshift could be obtained only for B2 and B1 only, because B3 and B4 are contaminated
by the neighbouring cluster galaxy on most of the ground-based images. The
lensing and photometric redshifts for the image B2, are
and
z=1.61+0.19-0.13, respectively, at
.
The
for the image B1 is
z=1.57+0.26-0.25,
in excellent agreement with B2. The only plausible
identification for the emission line satisfying these two conditions
is CIII] 1909 Å, implying a redshift of z=1.502.
However, it does not fit exactly with the lensing prediction
suggesting that either the line identification is not correct,
or the lens model in this region is not accurate enough.
The emission line is seen on the spectra of both B2 and B3+B4, as
can be appreciated in the 2D spectra shown in Fig. 10,
thus it is likely to be a real feature. When it is identified with
CIV 1549 Å, which is a more likely case, then z=2.08, a value
which is still compatible with the
at
.
Unfortunately,
in this case Ly
is outside the spectral range observed.
If the lens model in this region
is responsible for the discrepancy, and the actual redshift of B is
higher than
,
then the redshift prediction for
the system C,
,
is also likely to be underestimated.
Deeper spectroscopy in the I-z bands may allow
to detect the [OII] emision line, specially if the lensing prediction
is correct.
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Figure 10: The 2-dimensional spectra of two images of the arc B: B2 (top) and B3+B4 (bottom). The arrows point the position of a faint emission line, visible in both spectra of B2 and B3+B4 images. The B3+B4 spectrum is contaminated by light from a nearby cluster galaxy. The slit was placed on the alignment of the B2 image with B3 and B4 (see Fig. 1). |
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Our spectrum of image C3 provides a fair estimate of
the redshift of the multiple image C, which shows a blue continuum
with absorption features identified as Ly
and CIV 1549 Å.
The redshift derived from these two lines is z=2.854,
which is fully compatible with the
estimates.
Figure 6 displays a comparison between the spectra of C3
and that of a local starburst.
Such a spectroscopic redshift is however much larger than the
present lens prediction, but in concordance
with the results obtained for the multiple image B.
Clearly better data on B and C are required before deriving any strong
conclusion.
Four other, high redshift, singly-imaged galaxies were observed with FORS-1:
![]() |
The revised mass model has been used to derive the
magnification of each of the images. The absolute magnitudes for these amplified galaxies are computed through a direct scaling of
the observed SED, taking into account the spectroscopic z, and using
the best-fit templates from the Bruzual & Charlot code (Bruzual &
Charlot 1993) to derive the k-corrections. The
values, corrected
for amplification according to the revised NKSE model,
are given in Table 5.
The absolute magnitudes of these galaxies typically range from
to -22, with a median value of -20.5. In the cluster core,
where the amplification is the highest, absolute magnitudes range between
and -21.5. In particular, E and C, the two objects
with confirmed redshifts in the interval
,
are respectively 0.5
and 1.5 magnitudes fainter than the limiting magnitude of the Steidel
et al. (1999) sample at similar redshifts. In the case of S, the magnification
corrected magnitude is close to the limiting value in conventional samples,
but the magnification of
magnitudes per image allows the
obtention of spectra with higher signal-to-noise ratios.
![]() |
Figure 11:
Rest-frame equivalent width of [OII]![]() ![]() ![]() ![]() ![]() |
Open with DEXTER |
We have computed the rest-frame equivalent width of
[OII] 3727 (
)
for the 14 galaxies in the
interval. There is no evidence for a
correlation between the value of
and the redshift up to
,
but the 2 galaxies with the largest values of
(
Å) are also the ones at
(V2 and V5). There is no
correlation between the flux in the emission-line and the redshift.
The median value of
in our sample is 20 Å, a result
which is fully compatible with the values found by Lilly et al. (1998)
in the CFRS + LDSS sample at similar redshifts. Also, this value is
similar to that obtained by Le Fèvre et al. (2000) for non-merger
galaxies and upcoming mergers in the CFR sample. Figure 11 displays
versus
for the 14 galaxies in the spectroscopic
sample, compared to the median values obtained in the CFRS and the
LDSS samples (Lilly et al. 1998). Even if the total number of sources
is small, there is a clear trend in the sense that the faintest
sub-L* galaxies (
)
display the highest values of
.
According to Ellis et al. (1996), such a trend is also observed in the
local samples. Besides, the evolution of the strong [OII]
3727
emitters population (
Å) is stronger than that
observed for the whole population, i.e., the space density of such
star-forming galaxies has strongly decreased since
(Ellis et al. 1996; Lilly et al. 1995). The results obtained on the
present sample are in good agreement with the previous findings, and
they extend the present samples in both redshift and towards the
faintest end of the LF.
One of the main goals of this program is to recover the intrinsic properties
of a very faint subsample of high-z lensed galaxies, undetectable otherwise, using
deep images and
,
in order to investigate, in particular,
their z distribution and luminosity
function. We have obtained through hyperz the
distribution of arclets in the
core of AC114,
a region covered by all the images in Table 1. Figure 12
displays the raw
distribution for the 148 objects considered in
this region. This sample includes objects detected in at least 3
filters. For
calculations, undetected objects in a given band have
their flux in this band set to zero,
with a flux error corresponding to the local limiting magnitude.
Photometric errors are taken from SExtractor,
with a threshold zeropoint error of 0.1 magnitudes.
From this sample, we exclude all cluster-member
candidates on the basis of their SEDs. Eight foreground and 81 background galaxies remain
in the final sample, defined as objects excluded as cluster members to better
than 90% confidence level, with
or
.
Forty-four galaxies are
found at
in a
field centered on the cD galaxy.
For comparison, the total number of such sources expected in this field, taking
into account the depth of the survey, ranges from
to 50 sources.
The selection criteria allow that the background sample includes all the objects
selected for spectroscopy in the cluster core.
![]() |
Figure 12:
Raw photometric redshift distribution of
galaxies in the
![]() |
Open with DEXTER |
![]() |
Figure 13:
Lens corrected absolute magnitude distribution versus redshift
for sources in the
![]() ![]() ![]() |
Open with DEXTER |
For cluster lenses with well-constrained mass distributions, as in the present case,
it is possible to recover precisely the
and the absolute magnitude distributions
of lensed galaxies by correcting the relative impact parameter on each redshift bin.
We have used the NKSE corrected mass model to derive such distributions for the background
sample of galaxies. Figure 13 displays the lens corrected absolute magnitude
distribution versus redshift for the sources in the field of AC114.
Up to
,
the restframe
B band is well matched by the filters used here. The median value of
is -21.5 for
the 44 galaxies at
,
with typical values ranging between
-19 and -23. In the
redshift interval (23 galaxies), the
median
is -21.0. Thus, the spectroscopic sample is biased towards the most amplified
sources in the central region, and thus intrinsically fainter than the photometric sample.
The median intrinsic luminosity increases to
for the
sample.
Because of the small number of objects in the sample,
this exercise is of limited interest for a single cluster, when using standard
(not ultra-deep) imaging, but it is useful to illustrate the case.
This study has allowed us to improve the NKSE lensing model for the massive and well studied cluster AC114, mainly through the discovery of a new multiple-image system, the E-system. This discovery was driven by the identification of a very high-z galaxy in the core of AC114 following deep multi-band images, and specifically through the photometric redshift technique. This multiple-image system was missed by a search of lensed objects in the high-resolution HST images due to its point-like appearance.
The way that led us to discover the E-system is a good demonstration of how high resolution images of cluster cores can be combined with deep multi-band images in order to select high-z galaxy candidates and to further constrain cluster mass models. This could be achieved for a larger list of clusters, e.g. those in available archives. Following the example of AC114, deeper and higher resolution images with diagnostic spectroscopy, will lead to new discoveries in the distant universe.
The photometry of a multiply-imaged background object together
with the model predictions for the individual images should lead to
a single value for the intrinsic luminosity of the source.
The resulting typical uncertainty in the magnification
factor is
magnitudes for most objects, which gives an
idea of the limitations arising from lens modelling when using
gravitational telescopes.
The revision to the mass model of AC114 is not a drastic one;
only some parameters have been tuned to match the new constraints whereas
the overall form is unchanged. However, if the redshifts of B and C systems are confirmed,
then there will be a need for a major change to the model as
these redshifts can only be matched if the mass profile is steeper than the one
employed both in the original NKSE and the refined models. Once
the redshifts of B and C are definitively known, an even more accurate model can be
obtained and this cluster could be used with great confidence in other
applications such as the search for distant supernovae (Sullivan et al. 2000),
distant Submm sources (Smail et al. 1997) or Lyman-
emitters
(Ellis et al., in preparation), or in the determination of the
cosmological parameters (
,
)
using the method of Golse et al. (2001).
The source responsible for the multiple image E at z=3.347 is intrinsically
faint, roughly the equivalent of the local
magnitudes.
The presence of a relatively strong emission line, together with the
gravitational magnification, has allowed us to obtain a spectroscopic
redshift. This galaxy is intrinsically
magnitudes fainter
than the limiting value of the Steidel et al. (1999) sample at similar
redshifts. It has a bright core and at least two faint extensions, similar to
the morphology of the compact cores in the field sample of Steidel et al. (1996a) at
.
The main subclump displays a compact morphology, which is not
resolved in width on the WFPC2 images, thus implying length scales of the
order of
kpc. Its morphology and the equivalent (rest frame)
width of Ly
are similar to those of H5, one of the multiple
images at z=4.05 identified in the core of A2390 (Pelló et al. 1999),
and also similar to the typical values observed by Hu et al. (1998)
in their sample of emission line galaxies at
to 6.
Six galaxies in our spectroscopic sample are found at
,
a redshift domain which is relatively poorly explored
because of the lack of strong spectral features.
The gravitational amplification
has allowed us to identify such objects, and the
precise redshift determination, using visible and near-IR
spectrographs in 8-10 m class telescopes, will allow a detailed
study of the spectral energy distributions of
these
galaxies. In particular, studies
of the star formation rate history and of the
permitted region in the age-metallicity-reddening parameter space, are
now possible and will be presented in the future. The best example is
the source S, for which a detailed spectroscopic study is presently
in progress.
The median value of
is -21.5 for the photometric sample of
galaxies at
,
with typical values ranging between
-19 and -23. The median
is -21.0 in this sample, in the
redshift interval, and it increases to
for the
sample. The spectroscopic sample
in the cluster core is biased towards the most amplified sources,
which are intrinsically fainter than the photometric sample, and it
exhibits a median
of -20.5 in the
redshift bin, with absolute magnitudes ranging
between
and -21.5. Lensed galaxies in this spectroscopic sample
are found to be intrinsically fainter, between 0.5 and 1.5 magnitudes,
than the limiting magnitudes
in the present blank field surveys at
(Steidel et al. 1999).
This gain in sensitivity towards low luminosity high-z objects,
equivalent to an increase in collecting area by at least a factor of 2
to 3 (and up to a factor of
in restricted regions of the source plane),
is sufficiently large to allow considerable improvement on our knowledge
of the faintest and/or highest redshift galaxies.
Probing the faint end of the luminosity function of high redshift galaxies will require observations and analyses, similar to the one presented here for AC114, of about ten massive cluster-lenses.
Acknowledgements
We are grateful to M. Bolzonella, G. Bruzual, M. Dantel-Fort, G. Mathez and D. Schaerer for useful discussions on this particular program. We would like to thank W. J. Couch for providing his deep B image of AC114, and C. Leitherer for allowing the use of the NGC 4214 spectrum. L.E.C. was partially supported by FONDECYT grant 1970735. Part of this work was supported by the French Centre National de la Recherche Scientifique, by the French Programme National de Cosmologie (PNC), and the TMR Lensnet ERBFMRXCT97-0172 (http://www.ast.cam.ac.uk/IoA/lensnet) and the ECOS SUD Program. Based on observations collected at the European Southern Observatory, Chile (ESO P64.O-0439), and with the NASA/ESA Hubble Space Telescope, which is operated by STScI for the Association of Universities for Research in Astronomy, Inc., under NASA contract NAS5-26555.