Hubble Space Telescope Wide Field Camera imaging of the gravitational lens 2237 + 0305

Abstract

Images of the gravitational lens system 2237 + 0305, taken with the HST Wide Field Camera, are analyzed. Positions for the four quasar images, accurate to +/-0.015 arcsec, and relative magnitudes in U and R, accurate to +/-0.06 and 0.04 mag, respectively, are determined. The upper limits on the observed brightness of the fifth image are found to be less than or approximately equal to 7 percent of the brightest quasar image. The mass of the lens inside 0.9 arcsec is found to be 1.08 +/-0.02 x 10 exp 10 solar masses/h100 corresponding to a mass-to-light ratio in B of 12.3h100. This solar mass/solar luminosity estimate agrees with values obtained from stellar dynamics for other elliptical galaxies. A comparison of predictions from this mass model with the measured central velocity dispersion yields a distance-independent agreement to within 10 percent, assuming isotropic velocity dispersions.