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We report new radio observations of SDSS J090122.37+181432.3, a strongly lensed star-forming galaxy at z = 2.26. We image 1.4 GHz (L -band) and 3 GHz (S -band) continuum using the Very Large Array (VLA) and 1.2 mm (band 6) continuum with Atacama Large Millimeter/submillimeter Array, in addition to the CO(7–6) and C i (3 P 2→3 P 1) lines, all at ≲1.″7 resolution. Based on the VLA integrated flux densities, we decompose the radio spectrum into its free–free (FF) and nonthermal components. The infrared–radio correlation parameter q TIR = 2.65 − 0.31 + 0.24 is consistent with expectations for star-forming galaxies. We obtain radio continuum-derived star formation rates (SFRs) that are free of dust extinction, finding 620 − 220 + 280 M ⊙ yr − 1 , 230 − 160 + 570 M ⊙ yr − 1 , and 280 − 120 + 460 M ⊙ yr − 1 from the FF emission, nonthermal emission, and when accounting for both emission processes, respectively, in agreement with previous results. We estimate the gas mass from the C i (3 P 2→3 P 1) line as M gas = (1.2 ± 0.2) × 1011 M ☉, which is consistent with prior CO(1–0)-derived gas masses. Using our new IR and radio continuum data to map the SFR, we assess the dependence of the Schmidt–Kennicutt relation on choices of SFR and gas tracer for ∼kpc scales. The different SFR tracers yield different slopes, with the IR being the steepest, potentially due to highly obscured star formation in J0901. The radio continuum maps have the lowest slopes and overall fidelity for mapping the SFR, despite producing consistent total SFRs. We also find that the Schmidt–Kennicutt relation slope is flattest when using CO(7–6) or C i (3 P 2→3 P 1) to trace gas mass, suggesting that those transitions are not suitable for tracing the bulk molecular gas in galaxies like J0901. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

We report Atacama Large Millimeter/Submillimeter Array (ALMA) observations of the dust continuum and [C ii ] emission of the host galaxy of J0439+1634, a gravitationally lensed quasar at z = 6.5. Gravitational lensing boosts the source-plane resolution to ∼0.″15 (∼0.8 kpc). The lensing model derived from the ALMA data is consistent with the fiducial model in Fan et al. based on HST imaging. The host galaxy of J0439+1634 can be well-fitted by a Sérsic profile consistent with an exponential disk, both in the far-infrared (FIR) continuum and the [C ii ] emission. The overall magnification is 4.53 ± 0.05 for the continuum and 3.44 ± 0.05 for the [C ii ] line. The host galaxy of J0439+1634 is a compact ultraluminous infrared galaxy, with a total star formation rate (SFR) of 1.56 × 103M⊙ yr−1 after correcting for lensing and an effective radius of 0.74 kpc. The resolved regions in J0439+1634 follow the "[C ii ] deficit," where the [C ii ]-to-FIR ratio decreases with FIR surface brightness. The reconstructed velocity field of J0439+1634 appears to be rotation-like. The maximum line-of-sight rotation velocity is 130 km s−1 at a radius of 2 kpc. However, our data cannot be fit by an axisymmetric thin rotating disk, and the inclination of the rotation axis, i, remains unconstrained. We estimate the dynamical mass of the host galaxy to be. J0439+1634 is likely to have a high gas-mass fraction and an oversized SMBH compared to local relations. The SFR of J0439+1634 reaches the maximum possible values, and the SFR surface density is close to the highest value seen in any star-forming galaxy currently known in the universe. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Lines of sight with multiple projected cluster-scale gravitational lenses have high total masses and complex lens plane interactions that can boost the area of magnification, or étendue, making detection of faint background sources more likely than elsewhere. To identify these new “compound” cosmic telescopes, we have found directions in the sky with the highest integrated mass densities, as traced by the projected concentrations of luminous red galaxies (LRGs). We use new galaxy spectroscopy to derive preliminary magnification maps for two such lines of sight with total mass exceeding ∼3 × 1015M☼. From 1151 MMT Hectospec spectra of galaxies down to iAB = 21.2, we identify two to three group- and cluster-scale halos in each beam. These are well traced by LRGs. The majority of the mass in beam J085007.6+360428 (0850) is contributed by Zwicky 1953, a massive cluster at z = 0.3774, whereas beam J130657.5+463219 (1306) is composed of three halos with virial masses of 6 × 1014-2 × 1015M☼, one of which is A1682. The magnification maps derived from our mass models based on spectroscopy and Sloan Digital Sky Survey photometry alone display substantial étendue: the 68% confidence bands on the lens plane area with magnification exceeding 10 for a source plane of zs = 10 are [1.2, 3.8] arcmin2 for 0850 and [2.3, 6.7] arcmin2 for 1306. In deep Subaru Suprime-Cam imaging of beam 0850, we serendipitously discover a candidate multiply imaged V-dropout source at zphot = 5.03. The location of the candidate multiply imaged arcs is consistent with the critical curves for a source plane of z = 5.03 predicted by our mass model. Incorporating the position of the candidate multiply imaged galaxy as a constraint on the critical curve location in 0850 narrows the 68% confidence band on the lens plane area with μ > 10 and zs = 10 to [1.8, 4.2] arcmin2, an étendue range comparable to that of MACS 0717+3745 and El Gordo, two of the most powerful single cluster lenses known. The significant lensing power of our beams makes them powerful probes of reionization and galaxy formation in the early universe. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The best gravitational lenses for detecting distant galaxies are those with the largest mass concentrations and the most advantageous configurations of that mass along the line of sight. Our new method for finding such gravitational telescopes uses optical data to identify projected concentrations of luminous red galaxies (LRGs). LRGs are biased tracers of the underlying mass distribution, so lines of sight with the highest total luminosity in LRGs are likely to contain the largest total mass. We apply this selection technique to the Sloan Digital Sky Survey and identify the 200 fields with the highest total LRG luminosities projected within a 3.5 radius over the redshift range 0.1 ⩽ z ⩽ 0.7. The redshift and angular distributions of LRGs in these fields trace the concentrations of non-LRG galaxies. These fields are diverse; 22.5% contain one known galaxy cluster and 56.0% contain multiple known clusters previously identified in the literature. Thus, our results confirm that these LRGs trace massive structures and that our selection technique identifies fields with large total masses. These fields contain two to three times higher total LRG luminosities than most known strong-lensing clusters and will be among the best gravitational lensing fields for the purpose of detecting the highest redshift galaxies. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

We present the discovery of a Type Ia supernova (SN) at redshift z = 1.914 from the CANDELS multi-cycle treasury program on the Hubble Space Telescope (HST). This SN was discovered in the infrared using the Wide- Field Camera 3, and it is the highest-redshift Type Ia SN yet observed. We classify this object as a SN Ia by comparing its light curve and spectrum with those of a large sample of Type Ia and core-collapse SNe. Its apparent magnitude is consistent with that expected from the ΛCDM concordance cosmology.We discuss the use of spectral evidence for classification of z > 1.5 SNe Ia using HST grism simulations, finding that spectral data alone can frequently rule out SNe II, but distinguishing between SNe Ia and SNe Ib/c can require prohibitively long exposures. In such cases, a quantitative analysis of the light curve may be necessary for classification. Our photometric and spectroscopic classification methods can aid the determination of SN rates and cosmological parameters from the full high-redshift CANDELS SN sample. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Certain configurations of massive structures projected along the line of sight (LOS) maximize the number of detections of gravitationally lensed z ∼ 10 galaxies. We characterize such LOSs with the étendue σμ, the area in the source plane magnified over some threshold μ. We use the Millennium I and Millennium XXL cosmological simulations to determine the frequency of high σμ beams on the sky, their properties, and efficient selection criteria. We define the best beams as having σμ > 3 > 2000 arcsec2, for a z ∼ 10 source plane, and predict 477 ± 21 such beams on the sky. The total mass in the beam and σμ > 3 are strongly correlated. After controlling for total mass, we find a significant residual correlation between σμ > 3 and the number of cluster-scale halos (>1014M☼h–1) in the beam. Beams with σμ > 3 > 2000 arcsec2, which should be best at lensing z ∼ 10 galaxies, are 10 times more likely to contain multiple cluster-scale halos than a single cluster-scale halo. Beams containing an A1689-like massive cluster halo often have additional structures along the LOS, including at least one additional cluster-scale (M200 > 1014M☼h–1) halo 28% of the time. Selecting beams with multiple, massive structures will lead to enhanced detection of the most distant and intrinsically faint galaxies. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

We investigate the gravitational lensing properties of lines of sight containing multiple cluster-scale halos, motivated by their ability to lens very high redshift (z ∼ 10) sources into detectability. We control for the total mass along the line of sight, isolating the effects of distributing the mass among multiple halos and of varying the physical properties of the halos. Our results show that multiple-halo lines of sight can increase the magnified source-plane region compared to the single cluster lenses typically targeted for lensing studies and thus are generally better fields for detecting very high redshift sources. The configurations that result in optimal lensing cross sections benefit from interactions between the lens potentials of the halos when they overlap somewhat on the sky, creating regions of high magnification in the source plane not present when the halos are considered individually. The effect of these interactions on the lensing cross section can even be comparable to changing the total mass of the lens from 1015M☼ to 3 × 1015M☼. The gain in lensing cross section increases as the mass is split into more halos, provided that the lens potentials are projected close enough to interact with each other. A nonzero projected halo angular separation, equal halo mass ratio, and high projected halo concentration are the best mass configurations, whereas projected halo ellipticity, halo triaxiality, and the relative orientations of the halos are less important. Such high-mass, multiple-halo lines of sight exist in the Sloan Digital Sky Survey. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]