We modify the algorithm we proposed before in Aghamousa & Shafieloo (2015) on time delay estimation of the strong lens systems incorporating weighted cross-correlation and weighted summation of correlation coefficients. We show the high performance of this algorithm by applying it on Time Delay Challenge (TDC1) simulated data. We apply then our proposed method on the light curves of the lensed quasar SDSS J1001+5027 since this system has been well studied by other groups to compare our results with their findings. In this work we propose a new estimator namely "mirror" estimator along with a list of criteria for reliability test of estimation. Our mirror estimator results to $-117.1^{+7.1}_{-3.7}$ and $-117.1^{+7.2}_{-8.8}$ using simple Monte Carlo simulations and simulated light curves provided by Rathna Kumar et al. (2013) respectively. Although TDC1 simulations do not reflect the properties of SDSS J1001+5027 light curves, using these simulations results to smaller uncertainty which shows the higher quality observations can lead to substantially more precise time delay estimation. Our time delay estimation is in agreement with findings of the other groups for this strong lens system and the difference in the size of the error bars reflects the importance of appropriate light curve simulations.
We report the discovery of a gravitationally lensed quasar identified serendipitously in the Sloan Digital Sky Survey (SDSS). The object, SDSS J094604.90+183541.8, was initially targeted for spectroscopy as a luminous red galaxy, but the SDSS spectrum has the features of both a z=0.388 galaxy and a z=4.8 quasar. We have obtained additional imaging that resolves the system into two quasar images separated by 3.06 arcsec and a bright galaxy that is strongly blended with one of the quasar images. We confirm spectroscopically that the two quasar images represent a single lensed source at z=4.8 wit…
The quasar SDSS J133401.39+331534.3 at z = 2.426 is found to be a two-image gravitationally lensed quasar with the image separation of 0.833. The object is first identified as a lensed quasar candidate in the Sloan Digital Sky Survey Quasar Lens Search, and then confirmed as a lensed system from follow-up observations at the Subaru and University of Hawaii 2.2-meter telescopes. We estimate the redshift of the lensing galaxy to be 0.557 based on absorption lines in the quasar spectra as well as the color of the galaxy. In particular, we observe the system with the Subaru Telescope AO188 adaptiv…
Bright gravitationally lensed galaxies provide our most detailed view of galaxies at high redshift. Yet as a result of the small number of ultra-bright z~2 lensed systems with confirmed redshifts, most detailed spectroscopic studies have been limited in their scope. With the goal of increasing the number of bright lensed galaxies available for detailed follow-up, we have undertaken a spectroscopic campaign targeting wide separation (>3 arcsec) galaxy-galaxy lens candidates within the Sloan Digital Sky Survey (SDSS). Building on the earlier efforts of our CASSOWARY survey, we target a large sam…
We report the discovery of a unique gravitational lens system, SDSSJ2222+2745, producing five spectroscopically confirmed images of a z_s=2.82 quasar lensed by a foreground galaxy cluster at z_l=0.49. We also present photometric and spectroscopic evidence for a sixth lensed image of the same quasar. The maximum separation between the quasar images is 15.1". Both the large image separations and the high image multiplicity of the lensed quasar are in themselves exceptionally rare, and observing the combination of these two factors is an exceptionally unlikely occurrence in present datasets. This…
Gravitational lens systems containing lensed quasars are important as cosmological probes, as diagnostics of structural properties of the lensing galaxies and as tools to study the quasars themselves. The largest lensed quasar sample is the SDSS Quasar Lens Search, drawn from the Sloan Digital Sky Survey (SDSS). We are attempting to extend this survey using observations of lens candidates selected from a combination of the quasar sample from the SDSS and the UKIRT Infrared Deep Sky Survey (UKIDSS). This adds somewhat higher image quality together with a wider range of wavelength for the select…
We study the origin of absorption features on the blue side of the C IV broad emission line of the large-separation lensed quasar SDSS J1029+2623 at z_em ~ 2.197. The quasar images, produced by a foreground cluster of galaxies, have a maximum separation angle of ~ 22".5. The large angular separation suggests that the sight-lines to the quasar central source can go through different regions of outflowing winds from the accretion disk of the quasar, providing a unique opportunity to study the structure of outflows from the accretion disk, a key ingredient for the evolution of quasars as well as …
Cadenced optical imaging surveys in the next decade will be capable of detecting time-varying galaxy-scale strong gravitational lenses in large numbers, increasing the size of the statistically well-defined samples of multiply-imaged quasars by two orders of magnitude, and discovering the first strongly-lensed supernovae. We carry out a detailed calculation of the likely yields of several planned surveys, using realistic distributions for the lens and source properties and taking magnification bias and image configuration detectability into account. We find that upcoming wide-field synoptic su…
The four-image gravitationally lensed quasar QSO 2237+0305 is microlensed by stars in the lens galaxy. The amplitude of microlensing variability can be used to infer the relative size of the quasar as a function of wavelength; this provides a test of quasar models. Toward this end, we present Spitzer Space Telescope Infrared Spectrograph and Infrared Array Camera (IRAC) observations of QSO 2237+0305, finding the following. (1) The infrared (IR) spectral energy distribution (SED) is similar to that of other bright radio-quiet quasars, contrary to an earlier claim. (2) A dusty torus model with a…
We report the discovery of two strongly-lensed z ~ 3 Lyman Break Galaxies (LBGs) discovered as u-band dropouts as part of the SDSS Giant Arcs Survey (SGAS). The first, SGAS J122651.3+215220 at z = 2.9233 is lensed by one of several sub-clusters, SDSS J1226+2152, in a complex massive cluster at z = 0.43. Its (g, r, i) magnitudes are (21.14, 20.60, 20.51) which translate to surface brightnesses, mu_{g,r,i}, of (23.78, 23.11, 22.81). The second, SGAS J152745.1+065219, is an LBG at z = 2.7593 lensed by the foreground SDSS J1527+0652 at z = 0.39, with (g, r, z)=(20.90, 20.52, 20.58) and mu_{g,r,z}=…
We present a sample of 8498 quasars with both SDSS $ugriz$ optical and UKIDSS $YJHK$ near-IR photometric data. With this sample, we obtain the median colour-z relations based on 7400 quasars with magnitude uncertainties less than 0.1mag in all bands. By analyzing the quasar colours, we propose an empirical criterion in the $Y-K$ vs. $g-z$ colour-colour diagram to separate stars and quasars with redshift $z<4$, and two other criteria for selecting high-z quasars. Using the SDSS-UKIDSS colour-z relations, we estimate the photometric redshifts of 8498 SDSS-UKIDSS quasars, and find that 85.0% of t…
Gravitational microlensing is a powerful tool for probing the physical properties of quasar accretion disks and properties of the lens galaxy such as its dark matter fraction and mean stellar mass. Unfortunately the number of lensed quasars ($\sim 90$) exceeds our monitoring capabilities. Thus, estimating their microlensing properties is important for identifying good microlensing candidates as well as for the expectations of future surveys. In this work we estimate the microlensing properties of a sample of 87 lensed quasars. While the median Einstein radius crossing time scale is 20.6 years,…
We present 279 epochs of optical monitoring data spanning 5.4 years from 2007 January to 2012 June for the largest image separation (22.6 arcsec) gravitationally lensed quasar, SDSS J1029+2623. We find that image A leads the images B and C by dt_AB = (744+-10) days (90% confidence); the uncertainty includes both statistical uncertainties and systematic differences due to the choice of models. With only a ~1% fractional error, the interpretation of the delay is limited primarily by cosmic variance due to fluctuations in the mean line-of-sight density. We cannot separate the fainter image C from…
Aims. Within the framework of the COSMOGRAIL collaboration we present 7- and 8.5-year-long light curves and time-delay estimates for two gravitationally lensed quasars: SDSS J1206+4332 and HS 2209+1914. Methods. We monitored these doubly lensed quasars in the R-band using four telescopes: the Mercator, Maidanak, Himalayan Chandra, and Euler Telescopes, together spanning a period of 7 to 8.5 observing seasons from mid-2004 to mid-2011. The photometry of the quasar images was obtained through simultaneous deconvolution of these data. The time delays were determined from these resulting light cur…
We report first results from an ongoing monitoring campaign to measure time delays between the six images of the quasar SDSS\,J2222$+$2745, gravitationally lensed by a galaxy cluster. The time delay between A and B, the two most highly magnified images, is measured to be $τ_{\rm AB} = 47.7 \pm 6.0$ days (95\% confidence interval), consistent with previous model predictions for this lens system. The strong intrinsic variability of the quasar also allows us to derive a time delay value of $τ_{\rm CA} = 722 \pm 24$ days between image C and A, in spite of modest overlap between their light curves …
We use archival data of NASA's Chandra X-ray telescope to compile an X-ray light curve of all four images of the quadruply lensed quasar Q2237+0305 (z=1.695) from January 2006 to January 2007. We fit simulated point spread functions to the four individual quasar images using Cash's C-statistic to account for the Poisson nature of the X-ray signal. The quasar images display strong flux variations up to a factor of ~4 within one month. We can disentangle the intrinsic quasar variability from flux variations due to gravitational microlensing by looking at the flux ratios of the individual quasar …
We report the discovery of a quasar close to SDSS J0927+2943 (z = 0.713), which is a massive binary / recoiling black hole candidate. The companion quasar is at a projected distance of 125 h_70^{-1} kpc and exhibits a radial velocity difference of ~1400 km/s with respect to the known quasar. We discuss the nature of this peculiar quasar pair and the properties of its environment. We propose that the overall system is caught in the process of ongoing structure formation.
The observed lensed fraction of high-redshift quasars $(\sim0.2\%)$ is significantly lower than previous theoretical predictions $(\gtrsim4\%)$. We revisit the lensed fraction of high-redshift quasars predicted by theoretical models, where we adopt recent measurements of galaxy velocity dispersion functions (VDFs) and explore a wide range of quasar luminosity function (QLF) parameters. We use both analytical methods and mock catalogs which give consistent results. For ordinary QLF parameters and the depth of current high-redshift quasar surveys $(m_z\lesssim22)$, our model suggests a multiply-…
We present one of the first resolved maps of the [CII] 158 micron line, a powerful tracer of the star forming inter-stellar medium, at high redshift. We use the new IRAM PdBI receivers at 350 GHz to map this line in BRI 0952-0115, the host galaxy of a lensed quasar at z=4.4 previously found to be very bright in [CII] emission. The [CII] emission is clearly resolved and our data allow us to resolve two [CII] lensed images associated with the optical quasar images. We find that the star formation, as traced by [CII], is distributed over a region of ~ 1 kpc in size near the quasar nucleus, and we…
We apply the iterative MCS deconvolution method (ISMCS) to near-IR HST archives data of seven gravitationally lensed quasars currently monitored by the COSMOGRAIL collaboration: HE 0047-1756, RX J1131-1231, SDSS J1138+0314, SDSS J1155+6346, SDSS J1226-0006, WFI J2026-4536 and HS 2209+1914. In doing so, we obtain relative positions for the lensed images and shape parameters for the light distribution of the lensing galaxy in each system. The lensed image positions are derived with 1-2 mas accuracy. To predict time delays and to test the ability of simple mass models to reproduce the observed co…
We present the results from nine years of optically monitoring the gravitationally lensed z=0.658 quasar RX J1131-1231. The R-band light curves of the four individual images of the quasar were obtained using deconvolution photometry for a total of 707 epochs. Several sharp quasar variability features strongly constrain the time delays between the quasar images. Using three different numerical techniques, we measure these delays for all possible pairs of quasar images while always processing the four light curves simultaneously. For all three methods, the delays between the three close images A…
We present a catalog of 37,842 quasars in the SDSS Data Release 7, which have counterparts within 6" in the WISE Preliminary Data Release. The overall WISE detection rate of the SDSS quasars is 86.7%, and it decreases to less than 50.0% when the quasar magnitude is fainter than $i=20.5$. We derive the median color-redshift relations based on this SDSS-WISE quasar sample and apply them to estimate the photometric redshifts of the SDSS-WISE quasars. We find that by adding the WISE W1- and W2-band data to the SDSS photometry we can increase the photometric redshift reliability, defined as the per…
We present four new seasons of optical monitoring data and six epochs of X-ray photometry for the doubly-imaged lensed quasar Q J0158-4325. The high-amplitude, short-period microlensing variability for which this system is known has historically precluded a time delay measurement by conventional methods. We attempt to circumvent this limitation by application of a Monte Carlo microlensing analysis technique, but we are only able to prove that the delay must have the expected sign (image A leads image B). Despite our failure to robustly measure the time delay, we successfully model the microlen…
A Targeted Search for Variable Gravitationally Lensed Quasars
University of California, Los Angeles（加州大学洛杉矶分校）；Lawrence Berkeley National Laboratory（劳伦斯伯克利国家实验室）；University of San Francisco（旧金山大学）；Gemini Observatory / NSF’s NOIRLab（Gemini 天文台/美国国家科学基金会NOIRLab）；Kavli Institute for the Physics and Mathematics of the Universe, University of Tokyo（东京大学 Kavli宇宙物理与数学研究所）；Carnegie Mellon University（卡内基梅隆大学）；University of Hawaii（夏威夷大学）
We present a compilation of HST images of 58 luminous SDSS type 2 AGNs at 0.3<z<0.4. 42 of them are type 2 quasars, which are a good representation of all optically selected SDSS type 2 quasars in this range. We find that the majority of the host galaxies are ellipticals (30/42 or 71%). This is consistent with studies of radio loud and radio quiet type 1 quasars which show that their host galaxies are in general ellipticals. A significant fraction of type 2 quasars (>25/42 or >59%) show clear signatures of morphological disturbance which are in most cases identified with merger/interaction pro…
Using a high resolution radio image, we successfully resolve the two fold image components B and C of the quasar lens system SDSS J1029+2623. The flux anomalies associated with these two components in the optical regime persist, albeit less strongly, in our radio observations, suggesting that the cluster must be modeled by something more than a single central potential. We argue that placing substructure close to one of the components can account for a flux anomaly with negligible changes in the component positions. Our best fit model has a substructure mass of ~10^8 solar masses up to the mas…
To use strong gravitational lenses as an astrophysical or cosmological probe, models of their mass distributions are often needed. We present a new, time-efficient automation code for uniform modeling of strongly lensed quasars with GLEE, a lens modeling software, for high-resolution multi-band data. By using the observed positions of the lensed quasars and the spatially extended surface brightness distribution of the lensed quasar host galaxy, we obtain a model of the mass distribution of the lens galaxy. We apply this uniform modeling pipeline to a sample of nine strongly lensed quasars with…
The distribution of SDSS quasars is described. The dependence of observational number of quasars within distances to an observer less than r on distance r is found to be the power law with correlation dimension value equal 2,71 in redshift range 0,35 < z < 2,30 for the flat Universe filled with cold dust. The quasar distribution on the celestial sphere is characterized by power laws as well with correlation dimension value equal from 1,49 to 1,58 for different redshift layers in the same range. These properties are evidences of fractality.
We report the discovery of a pair of quasars at $z=1.487$, with a separation of $8\farcs585\pm0\farcs002$. Subaru Telescope infrared imaging reveals the presence of an elliptical and a disk-like galaxy located almost symmetrically between the quasars, creating a cross-like configuration. Based on absorption lines in the quasar spectra and the colors of the galaxies, we estimate that both galaxies are located at redshift $z=0.899$. This, as well as the similarity of the quasar spectra, suggests that the system is a single quasar multiply imaged by a galaxy group or cluster acting as a gravitati…
Starting from the quasar sample of the Sloan Digital Sky Survey (SDSS) for which the CIV line is observed, we use an analysis scheme to derive the z-dependence of the maximum mass of active black holes, which overcomes the problems related to the Malmquist bias. The same procedure is applied to the low redshift sample of SDSS quasars for which Hbeta measurements are available. Combining with the results from the previously studied MgII sample, we find that the maximum mass of the quasar population increases as (1+z)^(1.64+/-0.04) in the redshift range 0.1<z<4, which includes the epoch of maxim…
We present the results of 15 years of monitoring lensed quasars, which was conducted by the COSMOGRAIL programme at the Leonhard Euler 1.2m Swiss Telescope. The decade-long light curves of 23 lensed systems are presented for the first time. We complement our data set with other monitoring data available in the literature to measure the time delays in 18 systems, among which nine reach a relative precision better than 15% for at least one time delay. To achieve this, we developed an automated version of the curve-shifting toolbox PyCS to ensure robust estimation of the time delay in the presenc…
We present an analysis of archival observations with the Atacama Large (sub-)Millimetre Array (ALMA) of the gravitationally lensed quasar MG J0414+0534, which show four compact images of the quasar and an Einstein ring from the dust associated with the quasar host galaxy. We confirm that the flux-ratio anomalies observed in the mid-infrared and radio persists into the sub-mm for the continuum images of the quasar. We report the detection of CO (11-10) spectral line emission, which traces a region of compact gas around the quasar nucleus. This line emission also shows evidence of a flux-ratio a…
We report the discovery of the quadruply lensed quasar J1433+6007, mined in the SDSS DR12 photometric catalogues using a novel outlier-selection technique, without prior spectroscopic or UV excess information. Discovery data obtained at the Nordic Optical telescope (NOT, La Palma) show nearly identical quasar spectra at $z_s=2.74$ and four quasar images in a fold configuration, one of which sits on a blue arc. The deflector redshift is $z_{l}=0.407,$ from Keck-ESI spectra. We describe the selection procedure, discovery and follow-up, image positions and $BVRi$ magnitudes, and first results and…
The discovery of the first strongly lensed $(μ\approx 50)$ quasar at $z>6$ (J0439+1634) represents a breakthrough in our understanding of the early Universe. We derive the theoretical consequences of the new discovery. We predict that the observed population of $z > 6$ quasars should contain many sources with magnifications $μ\lesssim 10$ and with image separations below the resolution threshold. Additionally, current selection criteria could have missed a substantial population of lensed $z > 6$ quasars, due to the contamination of the drop-out photometric bands by lens galaxies. We argue tha…
We present the result of Subaru Telescope multi-band adaptive optics observations of the complex gravitationally lensed quasar SDSS J1405+0959, which is produced by two lensing galaxies. These observations reveal dramatically enhanced morphological detail, leading to the discovery of an additional object 0. 26'' from the secondary lensing galaxy, as well as three collinear clumps located in between the two lensing galaxies. The new object is likely to be the third quasar image, although the possibility that it is a galaxy cannot be entirely excluded. If confirmed via future observations, it wo…
SDSS J2222+2745 is a galaxy cluster at z=0.49, strongly lensing a quasar at z=2.805 into six widely separated images. In recent HST imaging of the field, we identify additional multiply lensed galaxies, and confirm the sixth quasar image that was identified by Dahle et al. (2013). We used the Gemini North telescope to measure a spectroscopic redshift of z=4.56 of one of the secondary lensed galaxies. These data are used to refine the lens model of SDSS J2222+2745, compute the time delay and magnifications of the lensed quasar images, and reconstruct the source image of the quasar host and a se…
We report the discovery of 13 confirmed two-image quasar lenses from a systematic search for gravitationally lensed quasars in the SDSS-III Baryon Oscillation Spectroscopic Survey (BOSS). We adopted a methodology similar to that used in the SDSS Quasar Lens Search (SQLS). In addition to the confirmed lenses, we report 11 quasar pairs with small angular separations ($\lesssim$2") confirmed from our spectroscopy, which are either projected pairs, physical binaries, or possibly quasar lens systems whose lens galaxies have not yet been detected. The newly discovered quasar lens system, SDSS J1452+…
The Southern Hemisphere has just recently begun to be charted by wide-field surveys, with a sufficient depth and image quality to enable the discovery of strongly lensed quasars. The quadruply imaged quasar WG0214-2105 (r.a.=02:14:16.37, dec.=-21:05:35.3) is a previously unknown lens, with `blue' mid-IR colors and high UV deficit, found in the intersection of three survey footprints: the Dark Energy Survey public DR1 (DES, Abbott et al. 2018), The VST-ATLAS (Shanks et al. 2015) and Pan-STARRS (Chambers et al. 2016). Its discovery relied on high spatial resolution from the Gaia mission (Lindegr…
Gravitationally lensed quasars are useful for studying astrophysics and cosmology, and enlarging the sample size of lensed quasars is important for multiple studies. In this work, we develop a lens search algorithm for four-image (quad) lensed quasars based on their time variability. In the development of the lens search algorithm, we constructed a pipeline simulating multi-epoch images of lensed quasars in cadenced surveys, accounting for quasar variabilities, quasar hosts, lens galaxies, and the PSF variation. Applying the simulation pipeline to the Hyper Suprime-Cam (HSC) transient survey, …
As a completely independent method, the measurement of time delay of strongly lensed quasars (TDSL) are crucial to resolve the Hubble tension. Extensive monitoring is required but so far limited to a small sample of strongly lensed quasars. Together with several partner institutes, Beijing Normal University is constructing a 1.93m reflector telescope at the Muztagh-Ata site in west China, which has the world class observing conditions. The telescope will be equipped with both a three-channel imager/photometer which covers $3500-11000$ Angstrom wavelength band, and a low-medium resolution ($λ/δ…
Identifying multiply imaged quasars is challenging due to their low density in the sky and the limited angular resolution of wide field surveys. We show that multiply imaged quasars can be identified using unresolved light curves, without assuming a light curve template or any prior information. After describing our method, we show using simulations that it can attain high precision and recall when we consider high-quality data with negligible noise well below the variability of the light curves. As the noise level increases to that of the Zwicky Transient Facility (ZTF) telescope, we find tha…
We test the robustness of published time delays for 11 lensed quasars by using two techniques to measure time shifts in their light curves. We chose to use two fundamentally different techniques to determine time delays in gravitationally lensed quasars: a method based on fitting a numerical model and another one derived from the minimum dispersion method introduced by Pelt and collaborators. To analyse our sample in a homogeneous way and avoid bias caused by the choice of the method used, we apply both methods to 11 different lensed systems for which delays have been published: JVAS B0218+357…
The Chandra observations of several gravitationally lensed quasars show evidence for flux and spectral variability of the X-ray emission that is uncorrelated between images and is thought to result from the microlensing by stars in the lensing galaxy. We report here on the most detailed modeling of such systems to date, including simulations of the emission of the Fe K-alpha fluorescent radiation from the accretion disk with a general relativistic ray tracing code, the use of realistic microlensing magnification maps derived from inverse ray shooting calculations, and the simulation of the lin…
We report the serendipitous discovery of the first gravitationally lensed quasar candidate from Pan-STARRS. The grizy images reveal four point-like images with magnitudes between 14.9 mag and 18.1 mag. The colors of the point sources are similar, and they are more consistent with quasars than with stars or galaxies. The lensing galaxy is detected in the izy bands, with an inferred photometric redshift of ~0.6, lower than that of the point sources. We successfully model the system with a singular isothermal ellipsoid with shear, using the relative positions of the five objects as constraints. W…
Semi-Supervised Learning for Lensed Quasar Detection
Donald Bren School of Information and Computer Sciences, University of California, Irvine（加州大学尔湾分校唐纳德布伦信息与计算机科学学院）；Jet Propulsion Laboratory, California Institute of Technology（加州理工学院喷气推进实验室）；CSIRO Data61（澳大利亚联邦科学与工业研究组织数据61）；California Institute of Technology（加州理工学院）；Laboratoire d’Astrophysique de Bordeaux, Univ. Bordeaux, CNRS（波尔多大学CNRS天体物理实验室）；Instituto de Astronomia, Geofísica e Ciências Atmosféricas, Universidade de São Paulo（圣保罗大学天文、地球物理与大气科学研究所）
We present a microlensing analysis of 61 Chandra observations of 14 quadruply lensed quasars. X-ray flux measurements of the individual quasar images give a clean determination of the microlensing effects in the lensing galaxy and thus offer a direct assessment of the local fraction of stellar matter making up the total integrated mass along the lines of sight through the lensing galaxy. A Bayesian analysis of the ensemble of lensing galaxies gives a most likely local stellar fraction of 7%, with the other 93% in a smooth, dark matter component, at an average impact parameter R_c of 6.6 kpc fr…
Context: The gravitational lensing time delay method provides a one-step determination of the Hubble constant (H0) with an uncertainty level on par with the cosmic distance ladder method. However, to further investigate the nature of the dark energy, a H0 estimate down to 1% level is greatly needed. This requires dozens of strongly lensed quasars that are yet to be delivered by ongoing and forthcoming all-sky surveys. Aims: In this work we aim to determine the spectroscopic redshift of PSOJ0147, the first strongly lensed quasar candidate found in the Pan-STARRS survey. The main goal of our wor…
We study the geometry and the internal structure of the outflowing wind from the accretion disk of a quasar by observing multiple sightlines with the aid of strong gravitational lensing. Using Subaru/HDS, we performed high-resolution ($R$ $\sim$ 36,000) spectroscopic observations of images A and B of the gravitationally lensed quasar SDSS J1029+2623 (at $z_{em}$ $\sim$ 2.197) whose image separation angle, $θ$ $\sim$ 22$^{\prime\prime}\!\!$.5, is the largest among those discovered so far. We confirm that the difference in absorption profiles in the images A and B discovered by Misawa et al. (20…
Strongly lensed variable quasars can serve as precise cosmological probes, provided that time delays between the image fluxes can be accurately measured. A number of methods have been proposed to address this problem. In this paper, we explore in detail a new approach based on kernel regression estimates, which is able to estimate a single time delay given several datasets for the same quasar. We develop realistic artificial data sets in order to carry out controlled experiments to test of performance of this new approach. We also test our method on real data from strongly lensed quasar Q0957+…
Context. Strong gravitationally lensed quasars are among the most interesting and useful observable extragalactic phenomena. Because their study constitutes a unique tool in various fields of astronomy, they are highly sought, not without difficulty. Indeed, even in this era of all-sky surveys, their recognition remains a great challenge, with barely a few hundred currently known systems. Aims. In this work we aim to detect new strongly lensed quasar candidates in the recently published Gaia Data Release 2 (DR2), which is the highest spatial resolution astrometric and photometric all-sky surve…
Strong gravitational lensing distorts our view of sources at cosmological distances but brings invaluable constraints on the mass content of foreground objects and on the geometry and properties of the Universe. We report the detection of a third continuum source toward the strongly lensed quasar PKS1830-211 in ALMA multi-frequency observations of high dynamic range and high angular resolution. This third source is point-like and located slightly to the north of the diagonal joining the two main lensed images, A and B, 0.3 arcsec away from image B. It has a flux density that is ~140 times weak…
Recent work has demonstrated the potential of gravitationally lensed quasars to extend measurements of black hole spin out to high-redshift with the current generation of X-ray observatories. Here we present an analysis of a large sample of 27 lensed quasars in the redshift range 1.0<z<4.5 observed with Chandra, utilizing over 1.6 Ms of total observing time, focusing on the rest-frame iron K emission from these sources. Although the X-ray signal-to-noise (S/N) currently available does not permit the detection of iron emission from the inner accretion disk in individual cases in our sample, we …
We present 13 seasons of $R$-band photometry of the quadruply-lensed quasar WFI 2033-4723 from the 1.3m SMARTS telescope at CTIO and the 1.2m Euler Swiss Telescope at La Silla, in which we detect microlensing variability of $\sim0.2$ mags on a timescale of $\sim$6 years. Using a Bayesian Monte Carlo technique, we analyze the microlensing signal to obtain a measurement of the size of this system's accretion disk of $\log (r_s/{\rm cm}) = 15.86^{+0.25}_{-0.27}$ at $λ_{rest} = 2481{\rm Å}$, assuming a $60^\circ$ inclination angle. We confirm previous measurements of the BC and AB time delays, and…
