Gravitational Lens System PS J0147+4630 (Andromeda's Parachute): Main Lensing Galaxy and Optical Variability of the Quasar Images

Because follow–up observations of quadruple gravitational lens systems are of extraordinary importance for astrophysics and cosmology, we present single-epoch optical spectra and r-band light curves of PS J0147+4630. This recently discovered system mainly consists of four images ABCD of a background quasar around a foreground galaxy G that acts as a gravitational lens. First, we use long-slit spectroscopic data in the Gemini Observatory Archive and a multi-component fittting to accurately resolve the spectra of A, D, and G. The spectral profile of G resembles that of an early-type galaxy at a redshift of 0.678±0.001, which is about 20% higher than the previous estimate. Additionally, the stellar velocity dispersion is measured to ∼5% precision. Second, our early r-band monitoring with the Liverpool Telescope leads to accurate light curves of the four quasar images. Adopting time delays predicted by the lens model, the new lens redshift, and a standard cosmology, we report the detection of microlensing variations in C and D as large as ∼0.1 mag on timescales of a few hundred days. We also estimate an actual delay between A and B of a few days (B is leading), which demonstrates the big potential of optical monitoring campaigns of PS J0147+4630.This research has been conducted in the framework of the Gravitational LENses and DArk MAtter (GLENDAMA) project, which is supported by the MINECO/AEI/FEDER-UE grant AYA2017-89815-P and the University of Cantabri

Time delay between images of the lensed quasar UM673

We study brightness variations in the double lensed quasar UM673 (Q0142-100) with the aim of measuring the time delay between its two images. In the paper we combine our previously published observational data of UM673 obtained during the 2003 - 2005 seasons at the Maidanak Observatory with archival and recently observed Maidanak and CTIO UM673 data. We analyze the V, R and I-band light curves of the A and B images of UM673, which cover ten observational seasons from August 2001 to November 2010. We also analyze the time evolution of the difference in magnitudes between images A and B of UM673 over more than ten years. We find that the quasar exhibits both short-term (with amplitude of \sim 0.1 mag in the R band) and high-amplitude (\sim 0.3 mag) long-term variability on timescales of about several months and several years, respectively. These brightness variations are used to constrain the time delay between the images of UM673. From cross-correlation analysis of the A and B quasar light curves and error analysis we measure the mean time delay and its error of 89 \pm11 days. Given the input time delay of 88 days, the most probable value of the delay that can be recovered from light curves with the same statistical properties as the observed R-band light curves of UM673 is 95{+5/-16}{+14/-29} days (68 and 95 % confidence intervals). Analysis of the V - I color variations and V, R and I-band magnitude differences of the quasar images does not show clear evidence of the microlensing variations between 1998 and 2010.Comment: Submitted to A&A, 11 pages, 9 figure

Gravitationally Lensed Quasar SDSS J1442+4055: Redshifts of Lensing Galaxies, Time Delay, Microlensing Variability, and Intervening Metal System at z ∼2

We present r-band photometric monitoring of the two images, A and B, of the gravitationally lensed quasar SDSS J1442+4055 using the Liverpool Telescope (LT). From the LT light curves between 2015 December and 2018 August, we derive at once a time delay of 25.0 ± 1.5 days (1σ confidence interval; A is leading) and microlensing magnification gradients below 10-4 mag day-1. The delay interval is not expected to be affected by an appreciable microlensing-induced bias, so it can be used to estimate cosmological parameters. This paper also focuses on new Gran Telescopio Canarias (GTC) and LT spectroscopic observations of the lens system. We determine the redshift of two bright galaxies around the doubly imaged quasar using LT spectroscopy, while GTC data lead to low-noise individual spectra of A, B, and the main lensing galaxy, G1. The G1 spectral shape is accurately matched to an early-type galaxy template at z = 0.284, and it has potential for further relevant studies. Additionally, the quasar spectra show absorption by metal-rich gas at z ~ 2. This dusty absorber is responsible for an extinction bump at a rest-frame wavelength of 2209 ± 2 Å, which has strengths of ~0.47 and 0.76 mag μm−1 for A and B, respectively. In such an intervening system, the dust-to-gas ratio, gas-phase metallicity indicator [Zn/H], and dust depletion level [Fe/Zn] are relatively hig.We are grateful to the SDSS collaboration for doing that public database. This research as been conducted in the framework of the Gravitational LENses and DArk MAtter (GLENDAMA) project, which was /is supported by Spanish Department of Research, Development and Innovation grant AYA2013-47744-C3-2-P; MINECO/AEI/FEDER-UE grant AYA2017-89815-P; the complementary action “Lentes Gravitatorias y Materia Oscura” financed by the SOciedad para el DEsarrollo Regional de CANtabria (SODERCAN S.A.); the Operational Programme of FEDER-UE; and the University of Cantabri

Cosmological distance indicators

We review three distance measurement techniques beyond the local universe: (1) gravitational lens time delays, (2) baryon acoustic oscillation (BAO), and (3) HI intensity mapping. We describe the principles and theory behind each method, the ingredients needed for measuring such distances, the current observational results, and future prospects. Time delays from strongly lensed quasars currently provide constraints on $H_0$ with < 4% uncertainty, and with 1% within reach from ongoing surveys and efforts. Recent exciting discoveries of strongly lensed supernovae hold great promise for time-delay cosmography. BAO features have been detected in redshift surveys up to z <~ 0.8 with galaxies and z ~ 2 with Ly-$\alpha$ forest, providing precise distance measurements and $H_0$ with < 2% uncertainty in flat $\Lambda$CDM. Future BAO surveys will probe the distance scale with percent-level precision. HI intensity mapping has great potential to map BAO distances at z ~ 0.8 and beyond with precisions of a few percent. The next years ahead will be exciting as various cosmological probes reach 1% uncertainty in determining $H_0$, to assess the current tension in $H_0$ measurements that could indicate new physics.Comment: Review article accepted for publication in Space Science Reviews (Springer), 45 pages, 10 figures. Chapter of a special collection resulting from the May 2016 ISSI-BJ workshop on Astronomical Distance Determination in the Space Ag

Liverpool-Maidanak monitoring of the Einstein Cross in 2006–2019

Quasar microlensing offers a unique opportunity to resolve tiny sources in distant active galactic nuclei and study compact object populations in lensing galaxies. We therefore searched for microlensing-induced variability of the gravitationally lensed quasar QSO 2237+0305 (Einstein Cross) using 4374 optical frames taken with the 2.0 m Liverpool Telescope and the 1.5 m Maidanak Telescope. These gVrRI frames over the 2006–2019 period were homogeneously processed to generate accurate long-term multi-band light curves of the four quasar images A–D. Through difference light curves, we found strong microlensing signatures. We then focused on the analytical modelling of two putative caustic-crossing events in image C, finding compelling evidence that this image experienced a double caustic crossing. Additionally, our overall results indicate that a standard accretion disc accounts reasonably well for the brightness profile of UV continuum emission sources and for the growth in source radius when the emission wavelength increases: Rλ ∝ λα, α = 1.33 ± 0.09. However, we caution that numerical microlensing simulations are required before firm conclusions can be reached on the UV emission scenario because the VRI-band monitoring during the first caustic crossing and one of our two α indicators lead to a few good solutions with α ≈ 1