James Webb Space Telescope Feed Post
Arxiv: CANUCS: Constraining the MACS J0416.1-2403 Strong Lensing Model with JWST NIRISS, NIRSpec and NIRCam Published: 6/14/2024 9:00:01 PM Updated: 6/14/2024 9:00:01 PM
Paper abstract: Strong gravitational lensing in galaxy clusters has become an essential toolin astrophysics, allowing us to directly probe the dark matter distribution andstudy magnified background sources. The precision and reliability of stronglensing models rely heavily on the number and quality of multiple images ofbackground sources with spectroscopic redshifts. We present an updated stronglensing model of the galaxy cluster MACS J0416.1-2403 with the largest sampleof multiple images with spectroscopic redshifts in a galaxy cluster field todate. Furthermore, we aim to demonstrate the effectiveness of JWST particularlyits NIRISS camera, for strong lensing studies. We use the JWST 's NIRCamimaging and NIRSpec and NIRISS spectroscopy from the CAnadian NIRISS UnbiasedCluster Survey (CANUCS). The cluster mass model is constrained using Lenstoolsoftware. Our new dataset, used for constraining the lens model, comprises 303secure multiple images from 111 background sources and includes systems withpreviously known MUSE redshift and systems for which we obtained spectroscopicredshift for the first time using NIRISS and NIRSpec spectroscopy. The totalnumber of secure spectroscopic systems is >20% higher than in the previousstrong lensing studies of this cluster. The derived strong lensing model canreproduce multiple images with the root-mean-square distance of 0.53''. We alsoprovide a full catalogue with 415 multiple images, including less reliablecandidates. We furthermore demonstrate the effectiveness of JWST particularlyNIRISS, for strong lensing studies. As NIRISS F115W, F150W, and F200W grismspectroscopy captures at least two of the [OII] {\lambda}3727, [OIII]{\lambda}{\lambda}4959, 5007, and H{\alpha} lines at 1
