Survey Of Gravitationally-lensed Objects In HSC Imaging Research Articles

Survey of gravitationally lensed objects in HSC imaging (SuGOHI) – IX. Discovery of strongly lensed quasar candidates

ABSTRACT We report the discovery of new lensed quasar candidates in the imaging data of the Hyper Suprime-Cam Subaru Strategic Program (HSC-SSP) Data Release 4, covering $1\, 310\deg ^2$ of the sky with median seeing in the i band of ≈0.6 arcsec. In addition to two catalogues of Million Quasars Catalog v7.2 and AllWISE Catalog of Mid-Infra Red Active Galactic Nuclei, containing confirmed and candidate quasars, we preselect quasar sources using colour cuts from the HSC (grizy) and unWISE (W1 + W2) photometric data based on SDSS spectroscopic catalogues. We search for the presence of multiple point sources with similar colour through the convolution of the Laplacian of the preselected quasar image cutouts with the Laplacian of the point spread function, resulting in a reduction of lens candidates from 1 652 329 to 121 511 (7.4 per cent). After visual binary classification, we grade 6 199 (0.4 per cent) potential lenses on a scale of 0 to 3, with 3 indicating a lens and 0 indicating a non-lens. Finally we obtain 162 lens candidates with an average grade of ≥2, and among them, we successfully recover 18 known lenses. By fitting the light distribution and removing the known contaminants, we discover that 57 new systems contain at least two point sources and a galaxy in between, including 10 possible quadruply lensed quasars. This new sample exhibits a median separation of 1.26 arcsec and a magnitude limit of i ≈ 22. Spectroscopic or high-resolution imaging follow up on these newly discovered lensed quasar candidates will further allow their natures to be confirmed.

Survey of Gravitationally lensed objects in HSC Imaging (SuGOHI). VIII. New galaxy-scale lenses from the HSC SSP

Abstract We conduct a search for galaxy-scale strong gravitational lens systems in Data Release 4 of the Hyper Suprime-Cam Subaru Strategic Program (HSC SSP), consisting of data taken up to the S21A semester. We select 103191 luminous red galaxies from the Baryon Oscillation Spectroscopic Survey (BOSS) sample that have deep multiband imaging from the HSC SSP and use the YattaLens algorithm to identify lens candidates with blue arc-like features automatically. The candidates are visually inspected and graded based on their likelihood of being a lens. We find eight definite lenses, 28 probable lenses, and 138 possible lenses. The new lens candidates generally have lens redshifts in the range 0.3 ≲ zL ≲ 0.9, a key intermediate redshift range to study the evolution of galaxy structure. Follow-up spectroscopy will confirm these new lenses and measure source redshifts to enable detailed lens modeling.

Survey of Gravitationally Lensed Objects in HSC Imaging (SuGOHI) – VII. Discovery and confirmation of three strongly lensed quasars†

ABSTRACT We present spectroscopic confirmation of three new two-image gravitationally lensed quasars, compiled from existing strong lens and X-ray catalogues. Images of HSC J091843.27–022007.5 show a red galaxy with two blue point sources at either side, separated by 2.26 arcsec. This system has a source and a lens redshifts zs = 0.804 and zℓ = 0.459, respectively, as obtained by our follow-up spectroscopic data. CXCO J100201.50+020330.0 shows two point sources separated by 0.85 arcsec on either side of an early-type galaxy. The follow-up spectroscopic data confirm the fainter quasar has the same redshift with the brighter quasar from the Sloan Digital Sky Survey (SDSS) fiber spectrum at zs = 2.016. The deflecting foreground galaxy is a typical early-type galaxy at a redshift of zℓ = 0.439. SDSS J135944.21+012809.8 has two point sources with quasar spectra at the same redshift zs = 1.096, separated by 1.05 arcsec, and fits to the HSC images confirm the presence of a galaxy between these. These discoveries demonstrate the power of the Hyper Suprime-Cam Subaru Strategic Program (HSC-SSP)’s deep imaging and wide sky coverage. Combined with existing X-ray source catalogues and follow-up spectroscopy, the HSC-SSP provides us unique opportunities to find multiple-image quasars lensed by a foreground galaxy.

Survey of Gravitationally lensed Objects in HSC Imaging (SuGOHI) – V. Group-to-cluster scale lens search from the HSC–SSP Survey

ABSTRACT We report the largest sample of candidate strong gravitational lenses belonging to the Survey of Gravitationally lensed Objects in HSC Imaging for group-to-cluster scale (SuGOHI-c) systems. These candidates are compiled from the S18A data release of the Hyper Suprime-Cam Subaru Strategic Program (HSC–SSP) Survey. We visually inspect ∼39 500 galaxy clusters, selected from several catalogues, overlapping with the Wide, Deep, and UltraDeep fields, spanning the cluster redshift range of 0.05 < zcl < 1.38. We discover 641 candidate lens systems, of which 536 are new. From the full sample, 47 are almost certainly bona fide lenses, 181 of them are highly probable lenses, and 413 are possible lens systems. Additionally, we present 131 lens candidates at galaxy scale serendipitously discovered during the inspection. We obtained spectroscopic follow-up of 10 candidates using the X-shooter. With this follow-up, we confirm eight systems as strong gravitational lenses. Of the remaining two, one of the sources is too faint to detect any emission, and the other has a tentative redshift close to the lens redshift, but additional arcs in this system are yet to be observed spectroscopically. Since the HSC–SSP is an ongoing survey, we expect to find ∼600 definite or probable lenses using this procedure and even more if combined with other lens finding methods.

Survey of Gravitationally lensed Objects in HSC Imaging (SuGOHI)

Strong gravitationally lensed quasars provide a powerful means to study galaxy evolution and cosmology. We use CHITAH, which is an algorithm used to hunt for new lens systems, particularly lensed quasars, in the Hyper Suprime-Cam Subaru Strategic Program (HSC SSP) S16A. We present 46 lens candidates, of which 3 are previously known. We select four high-grade candidates from CHITAH for spectroscopic follow-up observations, and include two additional lenses found by YATTALENS, an algorithm used to classify lensed galaxies. We obtain X-shooter spectra of these six promising candidates for lens confirmation and redshift measurements. We report new spectroscopic redshift measurements for both the lens and source galaxies in four lens systems. We apply the lens modeling software GLEE to model our six X-shooter lenses uniformly. Through our analysis of the HSC images, we find that HSCJ022622−042522, HSCJ115252+004733, and HSCJ141136−010216 have point-like lensed images, and that the lens light distribution is well aligned with the lens mass distribution within 6 deg. We estimate the fluxes of the lensed source emission lines using X-shooter spectra, and use line ratio as a diagnostic on the Baldwin-Phillips-Terlevich (BPT) diagram. As a result, we find that HSCJ022622−042522 has a probable quasar source based on the upper limit of the [N II] flux intensity. We also measure the FWHM of Lyα emission of HSCJ141136−010216 to be ∼233 km s−1, showing that it is a probable Lyman-α emitter.

Survey of gravitationally-lensed objects in HSC imaging (SuGOHI)

Context. The determination of the stellar initial mass function (IMF) of massive galaxies is one of the open problems in cosmology. Strong gravitational lensing is one of the few methods that allow us to constrain the IMF outside of the Local Group. Aims. The goal of this study is to statistically constrain the distribution in the IMF mismatch parameter, defined as the ratio between the true stellar mass of a galaxy and that inferred assuming a reference IMF, of massive galaxies from the Baryon Oscillation Spectroscopic Survey (BOSS) constant mass (CMASS) sample. Methods. We took 23 strong lenses drawn from the CMASS sample, measured their Einstein radii and stellar masses using multi-band photometry from the Hyper Suprime-Cam survey, then fitted a model distribution for the IMF mismatch parameter and dark matter halo mass to the whole sample. We used a prior on halo mass from weak lensing measurements and accounted for strong lensing selection effects in our model. Results. Assuming a Navarro Frenk and White density profile for the dark matter distribution, we infer a value μIMF = −0.04 ± 0.11 for the average base-10 logarithm of the IMF mismatch parameter, defined with respect to a Chabrier IMF. A Salpeter IMF is in tension with our measurements. Conclusions. Our results are consistent with a scenario in which the region of massive galaxies where the IMF normalisation is significantly heavier than that of the Milky Way is much smaller than the scales 5 − 10 kpc probed by the Einstein radius of the lenses in our sample, as recent spatially-resolved studies of the IMF in massive galaxies suggest.

Survey of Gravitationally Lensed Objects in HSC Imaging (SuGOHI). II. Environments and Line-of-Sight Structure of Strong Gravitational Lens Galaxies to z ∼ 0.8

Abstract We investigate the local and line-of-sight (LOS) overdensities of strong gravitational lens galaxies using wide-area multiband imaging from the Hyper Suprime-Cam Subaru Strategic Program. We present 41 new definite or probable lens candidates discovered in Data Release 2 of the survey. Using a combined sample of 87 galaxy-scale lenses out to a lens redshift of z L ∼ 0.8, we compare galaxy number counts in LOSs toward known and newly discovered lenses in the survey to those of a control sample consisting of random LOSs. We also compare the local overdensity of lens galaxies to a sample of “twin” galaxies that have similar redshift and velocity dispersion to test whether lenses lie in different environments from similar nonlens galaxies. We find that lens fields contain higher number counts of galaxies compared to the control fields, but this effect arises from the local environment of the lens. Once galaxies in the lens plane are removed, the lens LOSs are consistent with the control sample. The local environments of the lenses are overdense compared to the control sample, and are slightly overdense compared to those of the twin sample, although the significance is marginal. There is no significant evidence of the evolution of the local overdensity of lens environments with redshift.

Survey of Gravitationally-lensed Objects in HSC Imaging (SuGOHI). I. Automatic search for galaxy-scale strong lenses

Abstract The Hyper Suprime-Cam Subaru Strategic Program (HSC-SSP) is an excellent survey for the search for strong lenses, thanks to its area, image quality, and depth. We use three different methods to look for lenses among 43000 luminous red galaxies from the Baryon Oscillation Spectroscopic Survey (BOSS) sample with photometry from the S16A internal data release of the HSC-SSP. The first method is a newly developed algorithm, named YattaLens, which looks for arc-like features around massive galaxies and then estimates the likelihood of an object being a lens by performing a lens model fit. The second method, Chitah, is a modeling-based algorithm originally developed to look for lensed quasars. The third method makes use of spectroscopic data to look for emission lines from objects at a different redshift from that of the main galaxy. We find 15 definite lenses, 36 highly probable lenses, and 282 possible lenses. Among the three methods, YattaLens, which was developed specifically for this study, performs best in terms of both completeness and purity. Nevertheless, five highly probable lenses were missed by YattaLens but found by the other two methods, indicating that the three methods are highly complementary. Based on these numbers, we expect to find ∼300 definite or probable lenses by the end of the HSC-SSP.