The Infrared Einstein Ring in the Gravitational Lens MG1131+0456 and the Death of the Dusty Lens Hypothesis

Simple item page
dc.creatorKochanek, C. S.
dc.creatorFalco, E. E.
dc.creatorImpey, C. D.
dc.creatorLehar, J.
dc.creatorMcLeod, B. A.
dc.creatorRix, H. -W.
dc.creatorKeeton, C. R.
dc.creatorPeng, C. Y.
dc.date1998-09-29
dc.date.accessioned2026-07-07T02:28:07Z
dc.date.available2026-07-07T02:28:07Z
dc.descriptionWe have obtained and modeled new NICMOS images of the lens system MG1131+0456, which show that its lens galaxy is an H=18.6 mag, transparent, early-type galaxy at a redshift of about z_l = 0.85; it has a major axis effective radius R_e=0.68+/-0.05 arcsec, projected axis ratio b/a=0.77+/-0.02, and major axis PA=60+/-2 degrees. The lens is the brightest member of a group of seven galaxies with similar R-I and I-H colors, and the two closest group members produce sufficient tidal perturbations to explain the ring morphology. The host galaxy of the MG1131+0456 source is a z_s > 2 ERO (``extremely red object'') which is lensed into optical and infrared rings of dramatically different morphologies. These differences imply a strongly wavelength-dependent source morphology that could be explained by embedding the host in a larger, dusty disk. At 1.6 micron (H), the ring is spectacularly luminous, with a total observed flux of H=17.4 mag and a de-magnified flux of 19.3 mag, corresponding to a 1-2L_* galaxy at the probable source redshift of z_s > 2. Thus, it is primarily the stellar emission of the radio source host galaxy that produces the overall colors of two of the reddest radio lenses, MG1131+0456 and B~1938+666, aided by the suppression of optical AGN emission by dust in the source galaxy. The dusty lens hypothesis -- that many massive early-type galaxies with 0.2 < z_l < 1.0 have large, uniform dust opacities -- is ruled out.
dc.description27 pages, 8 COLOR figures, submitted to ApJ. Black and white version available at http://cfa-www.harvard.edu/castles
dc.identifierhttps://arxiv.org/abs/astro-ph/9809371
dc.identifierhttp://arxiv.org/abs/astro-ph/9809371
dc.identifier.urihttp://salesiana.dossiersoluciones.com/handle/123456789/12979
dc.subjectAstrophysics
dc.titleThe Infrared Einstein Ring in the Gravitational Lens MG1131+0456 and the Death of the Dusty Lens Hypothesis
dc.typetext

Files

Collections

arXiv