Precision modeling of JWST's first cluster lens SMACSJ0723.3-7327

Abstract

Exploiting the fundamentally achromatic nature of gravitational lensing, we present a lens model for the massive galaxy cluster SMACSJ0723.3-7323 (SMACS J0723, z=0.388) that significantly improves upon earlier work. Building on strong-lensing constraints identified in prior Hubble Space Telescope (HST) observations, the mass model utilizes 21 multiple-image systems, 16 of which were newly discovered in Early Release Observation (ERO) data from the James Webb Space Telescope (JWST). The resulting lens model maps the cluster mass distribution to an RMS spatial precision of 1.08'' and is publicly available at https://www.dropbox.com/sh/3iatmz5k4hafzqf/AAAh0JvLgpBVoLp6qsxYZkFGa?dl=0 . Consistent with previous analyses, our study shows SMACSJ0723.3-7323 to be well described by a single large-scale component centered on the location of the brightest cluster galaxy, however JWST data point to the need for two additional diffuse components west of the cluster, which in turn accounts for all the currently identified multiply imaged systems. A comparison of the galaxy distribution, the mass distribution, and gas distribution in the core of SMACS0723 based on HST, JWST, and Chandra data reveals a fairly concentrated regular elliptical profile along with tell-tale signs of recent merger activity, possibly proceeding aligned closely to our line of sight. The exquisite sensitivity of JWST's NIRCAM reveals in spectacular fashion both the extended intra-cluster-light distribution and numerous star-forming clumps in magnified background galaxies. The high-precision lens model derived here for SMACSJ0723-7323 demonstrates impressively the power of combining HST and JWST data for unprecedented studies of structure formation and evolution in the distant Universe.Comment: Updated to match the version submitted to ApJ - analysis, results and conclusions are unchanged. Link to the lensing outputs: https://www.dropbox.com/sh/3iatmz5k4hafzqf/AAAh0JvLgpBVoLp6qsxYZkFGa?dl=