Search

We present a detailed study of the gas and galaxy properties of the cluster PSZ2 G282.28+49.94 detected in the Planck all-sky survey. The intracluster medium (ICM) of this object at z=0.56 exhibits a cometary-like shape. Combining Chandra and TNG observations, we characterised the spatially resolved thermodynamical properties of the gas and the spatial and velocity distribution of 73 galaxy members. The cluster structure is quite complex with an elongated core region containing the two brightest cluster galaxies and one dense group to the south-east. Since there is no velocity difference between the core and the south-east group, we suggest the presence of a merger along the plane of the sky. This structure is related to complex X-ray and radio features, and thus the merger has likely been caught during the post-merger phase. Comparing the distribution of the ICM and of member galaxies, we find a large offset of $\sim 350$ kpc between the position of the X-ray peak and the centre of a concentration of galaxies, preceding it in the likely direction of motion. This configuration is similar to the famous Bullet Cluster, leading us to dub PSZ2 G282.28+49.94 the "Planck bullet", and represents an ideal situation to provide astrophysical constraints to the self-interaction cross-section ($\sigma/m$) of dark matter particles. These results illustrate the power of a multi-wavelength approach to probe the merging scenario of such complex and distant systems., Comment: Accepted for publication in A&A

Dusty star-forming galaxies (DSFGs) contribute significantly to the stellar buildup at cosmic noon. Major mergers and gas accretion are often invoked to explain DSFGs' prodigious star-formation rates (SFRs) and large stellar masses. We conducted a spatially-resolved morphological analysis of the rest-frame UV/NIR emission in three DSFGs at z~2.5. Initially discovered as CO emitters by NOEMA observations of a bright Herschel source, we observed them with the JWST/NIRCam as part of the PEARLS program. The NIRCam data reveal the galaxies' stellar populations and dust distributions on scales of 250 pc. Spatial variations in stellar mass, SFR, and dust extinction are determined in resolved maps obtained through pixel-based SED fitting. The CO emitters are massive, dusty starburst galaxies with SFRs=340-2500 Msun/yr, positioning them among the most active SFGs at 2

Supernova (SN) H0pe is a gravitationally lensed, triply-imaged, Type Ia SN (SN Ia) discovered in James Webb Space Telescope imaging of the PLCK G165.7+67.0 cluster of galaxies. Well-observed multiply-imaged SNe provide a rare opportunity to constrain the Hubble constant ($H_0$), by measuring the relative time delay between the images and modeling the foreground mass distribution. SN H0pe is located at $z=1.783$, and is the first SN Ia with sufficient light curve sampling and long enough time delays for an $H_0$ inference. Here we present photometric time-delay measurements and SN properties of SN H0pe. Using JWST/NIRCam photometry we measure time delays of $\Delta t_{ab}=-116.6^{+10.8}_{-9.3}$ and $\Delta t_{cb}=-48.6^{+3.6}_{-4.0}$ observer-frame days relative to the last image to arrive (image 2b; all uncertainties are $1\sigma$), which corresponds to a $\sim5.6\%$ uncertainty contribution for $H_0$ assuming $70 \rm{km s^{-1} Mpc^{-1}}$. We also constrain the absolute magnification of each image to $\mu_{a}=4.3^{+1.6}_{-1.8}$, $\mu_{b}=7.6^{+3.6}_{-2.6}$, $\mu_{c}=6.4^{+1.6}_{-1.5}$ by comparing the observed peak near-IR magnitude of SN H0pe to the non-lensed population of SNe Ia., Comment: Accepted in ApJ

The JWST North Ecliptic Pole (NEP) Time Domain Field (TDF) is a $>$14 arcmin diameter field optimized for multi-wavelength time-domain science with JWST. It has been observed across the electromagnetic spectrum both from the ground and from space, including with the Hubble Space Telescope (HST). As part of HST observations over 3 cycles (the "TREASUREHUNT" program), deep images were obtained with ACS/WFC in F435W and F606W that cover almost the entire JWST NEP TDF. Many of the individual pointings of these programs partially overlap, allowing an initial assessment of the potential of this field for time-domain science with HST and JWST. The cumulative area of overlapping pointings is ~88 arcmin$^2$, with time intervals between individual epochs that range between 1 day and 4$+$ years. To a depth of $m_{AB}$ $\simeq$ 29.5 mag (F606W), we present the discovery of 12 transients and 190 variable candidates. For the variable candidates, we demonstrate that Gaussian statistics are applicable, and estimate that ~80 are false positives. The majority of the transients will be supernovae, although at least two are likely quasars. Most variable candidates are AGN, where we find 0.42% of the general $z$ $<$ 6 field galaxy population to vary at the $~3\sigma$ level. Based on a 5-year timeframe, this translates into a random supernova areal density of up to ~0.07 transients per arcmin$^2$ (~245 deg$^{-2}$) per epoch, and a variable AGN areal density of ~1.25 variables per arcmin$^2$ (~4500 deg$^{-2}$) to these depths., Comment: 32 pages, 11 figures, 5 tables, 1 Appendix

The Time Domain Field (TDF) near the North Ecliptic Pole in JWST's continuous-viewing zone will become a premier "blank field" for extragalactic science. JWST/NIRCam data in a 16 arcmin$^2$ portion of the TDF identify 4.4 $\mu$m counterparts for 62 of 63 3 GHz sources with S(3 GHz) > 5 {\mu}Jy. The one unidentified radio source may be a lobe of a nearby Seyfert galaxy, or it may be an infrared-faint radio source. The bulk properties of the radio-host galaxies are consistent with those found by previous work: redshifts range from 0.14 to 4.4 with a median redshift of 1.33. The radio emission arises primarily from star formation in $\sim 2/3$ of the sample and from an active galactic nucleus in $\sim 1/3$, but just over half the sample shows evidence for an AGN either in the spectral energy distribution or by radio excess. All but three counterparts are brighter than magnitude 23 AB at 4.4 $\mu$m, and the exquisite resolution of JWST identifies correct counterparts for sources for which observations with lower angular resolution would mis-identify a nearby bright source as the counterpart when the correct one is faint and red. Up to 11% of counterparts might have been unidentified or misidentified absent NIRCam observations., Comment: Accepted for publication in ApJ. V2 adds an author and some acknowledgments inadvertently omitted

Supernova (SN) H0pe was discovered as a new transient in James Webb Space Telescope (JWST) NIRCam images of the galaxy cluster PLCK G165.7+67.0 taken as part of the "Prime Extragalactic Areas for Reionization and Lensing Science" (PEARLS) JWST GTO program (# 1176) on 2023 March 30 (AstroNote 2023-96; Frye et al. 2023). The transient is a compact source associated with a background galaxy that is stretched and triply-imaged by the cluster's strong gravitational lensing. This paper reports spectra in the 950-1370 nm observer frame of two of the galaxy's images obtained with Large Binocular Telescope (LBT) Utility Camera in the Infrared (LUCI) in longslit mode two weeks after the \JWST\ observations. The individual average spectra show the [OII] doublet and the Balmer and 4000 Angstrom breaks at redshift z=1.783+/-0.002. The CIGALE best-fit model of the spectral energy distribution indicates that SN H0pe's host galaxy is massive (Mstar~6x10^10 Msun after correcting for a magnification factor ~7) with a predominant intermediate age (~2 Gyr) stellar population, moderate extinction, and a magnification-corrected star formation rate ~13 Msun/yr, consistent with being below the main sequence of star formation. These properties suggest that H0pe might be a type Ia SN. Additional observations of SN H0pe and its host recently carried out with JWST (JWST-DD-4446; PI: B. Frye) will be able to both determine the SN classification and confirm its association with the galaxy analyzed in this work., Comment: 6 pages, 4 figures, Letter accepted for publication in Astronomy & Astrophysics

The ALMA lensing cluster survey (ALCS) is a 96-hr large program dedicated to uncovering and characterizing intrinsically faint continuum sources and line emitters with the assistance of gravitational lensing. All 33 cluster fields were selected from HST/Spitzer treasury programs including CLASH, Hubble Frontier Fields, and RELICS, which also have Herschel and Chandra coverages. The total sky area surveyed reaches $\sim$133 arcmin$^2$ down to a depth of $\sim$60 $\mu$Jy beam$^{-1}$ (1$\sigma$) at 1.2 mm, yielding 141 secure blind detections of continuum sources and additional 39 sources aided by priors. We present scientific motivation, survey design, the status of spectroscopy follow-up observations, and number counts down to $\sim$7 $\mu$Jy. Synergies with JWST are also discussed., Comment: 6 pages, 4 figures, Proceedings of the 7th Chile-Cologne-Bonn-Symposium: Physics and Chemistry of Star Formation, V. Ossenkopf-Okada, R. Schaaf, I. Breloy (eds.)

Star cluster formation in the early universe and their contribution to reionization remains to date largely unconstrained. Here we present JWST/NIRCam imaging of the most highly magnified galaxy known at z ~ 6, the Sunrise arc. We identify six young massive star clusters (YMCs) with measured radii spanning ~ 20 pc down to ~ 1 pc (corrected for lensing magnification), estimated stellar masses of ~ $10^{(6-7)}$ Msun, and with ages 1-30 Myr based on SED fitting to photometry measured in 8 filters extending to rest-frame 7000A. The resulting stellar mass surface densities are higher than 1000 Msun pc$^{-2}$ (up to a few $10^5$ Msun pc$^{-2}$) and their inferred dynamical ages qualify the majority of these systems as gravitationally-bound stellar clusters. The star cluster ages map the progression of star formation along the arc, with to evolved systems (>~ 10 Myr old) followed by very young clusters. The youngest stellar clusters (< 5 Myr) show evidence of prominent Hbeta + [OIII]4959,5007 emission, based on photometry, with equivalent widths larger than 1000 A rest-frame, and are hosted in a 200 pc sized star-forming complex. Such a region dominates the ionizing photon production, with a high efficiency log($\xi_{ion}$ [Hz erg$^{-1}$]) ~ 25.7. A significant fraction of the recently formed stellar mass of the galaxy (> 10-30 %) occurred in these YMCs. We speculate that such sources of ionizing radiation boost the ionizing photon production efficiency which eventually carve ionized channels that might favor the escape of Lyman continuum radiation. The survival of some of the clusters would make them the progenitors of massive and relatively metal-poor globular clusters in the local Universe., Comment: 18 pages, 8 figures, 3 tables. ApJ, Accepted

To extend the search for quasars in the epoch of reionization beyond the tip of the luminosity function, we explore point source candidates at redshift $z\sim8$ in SuperBoRG, a compilation of $\sim$0.4deg$^2$ archival medium-deep ($m_{\rm F160W}\sim 26.5$ABmag, 5$\sigma$) parallel IR images taken with the Hubble Space Telescope (HST). Initial candidates are selected by using the Lyman-break technique. We then carefully analyze source morphology, and robustly identify 3 point sources at $z\sim8$. Photometric redshift analysis reveals that they are preferentially fit by extra-galactic templates, and we conclude that they are unlikely to be low-$z$ interlopers, including brown dwarfs. A clear IRAC ch2 flux excess is seen in one of the point sources, which is expected if the source has strong H$\beta$+[O III] emission with rest-frame equivalent width of $\sim3000$AA. Deep spectroscopic data taken with Keck/MOSFIRE, however, do not reveal Ly$\alpha$ emission from the object. In combination with the estimated H$\beta$+[O III] equivalent width, we place an upper limit on its Ly$\alpha$ escape fraction $f_{\rm esc, Ly\alpha}< 2 \%$. We estimate the number density of these point sources $\sim1\times10^{-6}$Mpc$^{-3}$mag$^{-1}$ at $M_{\rm UV}\sim-23$mag. The final interpretation of our results remains inconclusive: extrapolation from low-$z$ studies of $faint$ quasars suggests that $>100\times$ survey volume may be required to find one of this luminosity. The James Webb Space Telescope will be able to conclusively determine the nature of our luminous point source candidates, while the Roman Space Telescope will probe $\sim 200$ times the area of the sky with the same observing time considered in this HST study., Comment: Accepted for publication in ApJ. 11 pages, 7 figures, 4 tables

We report the discovery of a Multi Unit Spectroscopic Explorer (MUSE) galaxy group at z=4.32 lensed by the massive galaxy cluster ACT-CL J0102-4915 (aka El Gordo) at z=0.87, associated with a 1.2 mm source which is at a 2.07+/-0.88 kpc projected distance from one of the group galaxies. Three images of the whole system appear in the image plane. The 1.2 mm source has been detected within the Atacama Large Millimetre/submillimetre Array (ALMA) Lensing Cluster Survey (ALCS). As this ALMA source is undetected at wavelengths lambda < 2 microns, its redshift cannot be independently determined, however, the three lensing components indicate that it belongs to the same galaxy group at z=4.32. The four members of the MUSE galaxy group have low to intermediate stellar masses (~ 10^7-10^{10} Msun) and star formation rates (SFRs) of 0.4-24 Msun/yr, resulting in high specific SFRs (sSFRs) for two of them, which suggest that these galaxies are growing fast (with stellar-mass doubling times of only ~ 2x10^7 years). This high incidence of starburst galaxies is likely a consequence of interactions within the galaxy group, which is compact and has high velocity dispersion. Based on the magnification-corrected sub-/millimetre continuum flux density and estimated stellar mass, we infer that the ALMA source is classified as an ordinary ultra-luminous infrared galaxy (with associated dust-obscured SFR~200-300 Msun/yr) and lies on the star-formation main sequence. This reported case of an ALMA/MUSE group association suggests that some presumably isolated ALMA sources are in fact signposts of richer star-forming environments at high redshifts., Comment: 13 pages including 7 figures and 1 table. Accepted for publication at the ApJ. Minor changes with respect to version 1. Figure 6 has been expanded to broaden comparison with the literature

Abell 2163 at $z \simeq 0.201$ is one of the most massive galaxy clusters known, very likely in a post-merging phase. Data from several observational windows suggest a complex mass structure with interacting subsystems, which makes the reconstruction of a realistic merging scenario very difficult. A missing key element in this sense is unveiling the cluster mass distribution at high resolution. We perform such a reconstruction of the cluster inner total mass through a strong lensing model based on new spectroscopic redshift measurements. We use data from the Multi Unit Spectroscopic Explorer (MUSE) on the Very Large Telescope (VLT) to confirm 12 multiple images of 4 sources with redshift values from 1.16 to 2.72. We also discover four new multiple images and identify 29 cluster members and 35 foreground and background sources. The resulting galaxy member and image catalogs are used to build five cluster total mass models. The fiducial model consists of 111 small-scale subhalos plus a diffuse component, which is centered $\sim2$ arcseconds away from the BCG belonging to the east Abell 2163 subcluster. We confirm that the latter is well represented by a single, large-scale mass component. Its strong elongation towards a second (west) subcluster confirms the existence of a preferential axis, corresponding to the merging direction. From the fiducial model, we extrapolate the cumulative projected total mass profile and measure a value of $M(<300\,$kpc$) = 1.43^{+0.07}_{-0.06}\times 10^{14}\,$M$_{\odot}$, which has a significantly reduced statistical error compared with previous estimates, thanks to the inclusion of the spectroscopic redshifts. Our strong lensing results are very accurate: the model-predicted positions of the multiple images are, on average, only $0.15$ arcseconds away from the observed ones., Comment: Minor changes in v2. Accepted for publication in A&A; 13 pages, 11 figures

We examine the massive colliding cluster El Gordo, one of the most massive clusters at high redshift. We use a free-form lensing reconstruction method that avoids making assumptions about the mass distribution. We use data from the RELICS program and identify new multiply lensed system candidates. The new set of constraints and free-form method provides a new independent mass estimate of this intriguing colliding cluster. Our results are found to be consistent with earlier parametric models, indirectly confirming the assumptions made in earlier work. By fitting a double gNFW profile to the lens model, and extrapolating to the virial radius, we infer a total mass for the cluster of $M_{200c}=(1.08^{+0.65}_{-0.12})\times10^{15}$M$_{\odot}$. We estimate the uncertainty in the mass due to errors in the photometric redshifts, and discuss the uncertainty in the inferred virial mass due to the extrapolation from the lens model. We also find in our lens map a mass overdensity corresponding to the large cometary tail of hot gas, reinforcing its interpretation as a large tidal feature predicted by hydrodynamical simulations that mimic El Gordo. Finally, we discuss the observed relation between the plasma and the mass map, finding that the peak in the projected mass map may be associated with a large concentration of colder gas, exhibiting possible star formation. El Gordo is one of the first clusters that will be observed with JWST, which is expected to unveil new high redshift lensed galaxies around this interesting cluster, and provide a more accurate estimation of its mass., Comment: 19 pages, 10 figures. Updated figures

Recent near-IR power-spectra and panchromatic Extragalactic Background Light measurements provide upper limits on the near-IR surface brightness (SB>31 mag/arcsec^2) that may come from Pop III stars and accretion disks around resulting stellar-mass black holes (BHs) in the epoch of First Light (z=7-17). Physical parameters for zero metallicity Pop III stars at z>7 can be estimated from MESA stellar evolution models through helium-depletion, and for BH accretion disks from quasar microlensing results and multicolor accretion models. Second-generation stars can form at higher multiplicity, so that BH accretion disks may be fed by Roche-lobe overflow from lower-mass companions in their AGB stage. The near-IR SB constraints can be used to calculate the number of caustic transits behind lensing clusters that JWST and the 25~39 m ground-based telescopes may detect for both Pop III stars and stellar mass BH accretion disks. Because Pop III stars and stellar mass BH accretion disks have sizes of a few x 10^-11 arcsec at z>7, typical caustic magnifications can be mu=10^4~10^5, with rise times of hours and decline times of < 1 year for cluster transverse velocities of v<1000 km/s. Microlensing by intracluster medium objects can modify transit magnifications, and lengthen visibility times. Depending on BH masses, accretion-disk radii and feeding efficiencies, stellar-mass BH accretion-disk caustic transits could outnumber those from Pop III stars. To observe Pop III caustic transits directly may require monitoring 3~30 lensing clusters to AB< 29 mag over a decade or more. Such a program must be started with JWST in Cycle 1, and -- depending on the role of microlensing in the Intra Cluster Light -- should be continued for decades with the GMT and TMT, where JWST and the ground-based telescopes each will play a unique and strongly complementary role., Comment: 6 pages + references, 3 figures, science white paper submitted to the Astro2020 decadal survey. arXiv admin note: substantial text overlap with arXiv:1801.03584

We present a full data analysis of the pure-parallel Hubble Space Telescope (HST) imaging observations in the Brightest of Reionizing Galaxies Survey (BoRG[z9]) in Cycle 22. The medium-deep exposures with five HST/WFC3IR+UVIS filter bands from 79 independent sightlines (~370 arcmin^2) provide the least biased determination of number density for z>9 bright galaxies against cosmic variance. After a strict two-step selection for candidate galaxies, including dropout color and photometric redshift analyses, and revision of previous BoRG candidates, we identify one source at z~10 and two sources at z~9. The z~10 candidate shows evidence of line-of-sight lens magnification (mu~1.5), yet it appears surprisingly luminous (MUV ~ -22.6\pm0.3 mag), making it one of the brightest candidates at z > 8 known (~ 0.3 mag brighter than the z = 8.68 galaxy EGSY8p7, spectroscopically confirmed by Zitrin and collaborators). For z ~ 9 candidates, we include previous data points at fainter magnitudes and find that the data are well fitted by a Schechter luminosity function with alpha ~ -2.1, MUV ~ -21.5 mag, and log phi ~ -4.5 Mpc^-3mag^-1, for the first time without fixing any parameters. The inferred cosmic star formation rate density is consistent with unaccelerated evolution from lower redshift., Comment: 18pages, 7figures, 6tables. accepted to the Astrophysical Journal

We have selected a sample of eleven massive clusters of galaxies observed by the Hubble Space Telescope in order to study the impact of the dynamical state on the IntraCluster Light (ICL) fraction, the ratio of total integrated ICL to the total galaxy member light. With the exception of the Bullet cluster, the sample is drawn from the Cluster Lensing and Supernova Survey and the Frontier Fields program, containing five relaxed and six merging clusters. The ICL fraction is calculated in three optical filters using the CHEFs IntraCluster Light Estimator, a robust and accurate algorithm free of a priori assumptions. We find that the ICL fraction in the three bands is, on average, higher for the merging clusters, ranging between $\sim7-23\%$, compared with the $\sim 2-11\%$ found for the relaxed systems. We observe a nearly constant value (within the error bars) in the ICL fraction of the regular clusters at the three wavelengths considered, which would indicate that the colors of the ICL and the cluster galaxies are, on average, coincident and, thus, their stellar populations. However, we find a higher ICL fraction in the F606W filter for the merging clusters, consistent with an excess of lower-metallicity/younger stars in the ICL, which could have migrated violently from the outskirts of the infalling galaxies during the merger event., Comment: 25 pages, 13 figures, 2 tables. Accepted for publication in ApJ

We present a new strong lensing analysis of the galaxy cluster MACS J1206.2-0847 (MACS 1206), at z=0.44, using deep spectroscopy from CLASH-VLT and VLT/MUSE archival data in combination with imaging from the Cluster Lensing and Supernova survey with Hubble. MUSE observations enable the spectroscopic identification of 23 new multiply imaged sources, extending the previous compilations by a factor of approximately five. In total, we use the positional measurements of 82 spectroscopic multiple images belonging to 27 families at z=1.0-6.1 to reconstruct the projected total mass distribution of MACS 1206. Remarkably, 11 multiple images are found within 50 kpc of the brightest cluster galaxy, making this an unprecedented set of constraints for the innermost projected mass distribution of a galaxy cluster. We thus find that, although dynamically relaxed, the smooth matter component (dark matter plus hot gas) of MACS 1206 shows a significant asymmetry, which closely follows the asymmetric distribution of the stellar component (galaxy members and intracluster light). We determine the value of the innermost logarithmic slope of the projected total mass density profile and find it to be close to the canonical Navarro-Frenk-White value. We demonstrate that this quantity is very robust against different parametrizations of the diffuse mass component; however, this is not the case when only one central image is used in the mass reconstruction. We also show that the mass density profile from our new strong lensing model is in very good agreement with dynamical and X-ray measurements at larger radii, where they overlap., Comment: 22 pages, 9 figures, 3 tables, A&A in press, strong lensing model publicly available at http://www.fe.infn.it/u/gbcaminha/M1206_Caminha17

[abridged] The Hubble and Spitzer Space Telescope surveys of the Frontier Fields (FF) provide extremely deep images around six massive, strong-lensing clusters of galaxies. The ALMA FF survey aims to cover the same fields at 1.1mm, with maps reaching (unlensed) sensitivities of $<$70$\mu$Jy, in order to explore the properties of background dusty star-forming galaxies. We report on the multi-wavelength photometric analysis of all 12 significantly detected ($>$5$\sigma$) sources in the first three FF clusters observed by ALMA, based on data from Hubble and Spitzer, the VLT and Herschel. We measure the total photometry in all available bands and determine the photometric redshifts and the physical properties of the counterparts via SED-fitting. In particular, we carefully estimate the FIR photometry using 1.1mm priors to limit the misidentification of blended FIR counterparts, which strongly affect some flux estimates in previous FIR catalogs. We identify robust near-infrared (NIR) counterparts for all 11 sources with K$_s$ detection, the majority of which are quite red, with eight having $F814W-K_s\gtrsim 4$ and five having $F160W-[4.5]\gtrsim3$. From the FIR point of view, all our objects have $z_{phot}$$\sim$1--3, whereas based on the optical SED one object prefers a high-$z$ solution ($z\geq\ $7). Five objects among our sample have spectroscopic redshifts from the GLASS survey for which we can reproduce their SEDs with existing templates. This verification confirms the validity of our photometric redshift methodology. The mean redshift of our sample is $z_{phot}$=1.99$\pm$0.27. All 1.1mm selected objects are massive (10.0$<\log[M_{\star}(M_{\odot})]<$ 11.5), with high star formation rates ($<\log[SFR(M_{\odot}/yr)]> \approx$1.6) and high dust contents (8.1 $<\log[M_{dust} (M_{\odot})]<$8.8), consistent with previous ALMA surveys., Comment: 18 pages, 11 figures, accepted for publication in A&A

We present accurate photometric redshifts for galaxies observed by the Cluster Lensing and Supernova survey with Hubble (CLASH). CLASH observed 25 massive galaxy cluster cores with the Hubble Space Telescope in 16 filters spanning 0.2 - 1.7 $\mu$m. Photometry in such crowded fields is challenging. Compared to our previously released catalogs, we make several improvements to the photometry, including smaller apertures, ICL subtraction, PSF matching, and empirically measured uncertainties. We further improve the Bayesian Photometric Redshift (BPZ) estimates by adding a redder elliptical template and by inflating the photometric uncertainties of the brightest galaxies. The resulting photometric redshift accuracies are dz/(1+z) $\sim$ 0.8\%, 1.0\%, and 2.0\% for galaxies with I-band F814W AB magnitudes $<$ 18, 20, and 23, respectively. These results are consistent with our expectations. They improve on our previously reported accuracies by a factor of 4 at the bright end and a factor of 2 at the faint end. Our new catalog includes 1257 spectroscopic redshifts, including 382 confirmed cluster members. We also provide stellar mass estimates. Finally, we include lensing magnification estimates of background galaxies based on our public lens models. Our new catalog of all 25 CLASH clusters is available via MAST. The analysis techniques developed here will be useful in other surveys of crowded fields, including the Frontier Fields and surveys carried out with J-PAS and JWST., Comment: 21 pages, 21 figures, 5 tables. Photo-z Catalogues Available. Accepted for publication in MNRAS

We report on five compact, extremely young (<10Myr) and blue (\beta_UV<-2.5, F_\lambda =\lambda^\beta) objects observed with VLT/MUSE at redshift 3.1169, 3.235, in addition to three objects at z=6.145. These sources are magnified by the Hubble Frontier Field galaxy clusters MACS~J0416 and AS1063. Their de-lensed half light radii (Re) are between 16 to 140pc, the stellar masses are ~1-20 X 10^6 Msun, the magnitudes are m_uv=28.8 - 31.4 (-173, elusive even in the deepest blank fields. We discuss how proto-GCs might contribute to the ionization budget of the universe and augment Lya visibility during reionization. This work underlines the crucial role of JWST in characterizing the rest-frame optical and near-infrared properties of such low-luminosity high-z objects., Comment: 19 pages, 9 figures, 2 tables. MNRAS, version accepted by the referee

Gravitational lensing by clusters of galaxies offers a powerful probe of their structure and mass distribution. Deriving a lens magnification map for a galaxy cluster is a classic inversion problem and many methods have been developed over the past two decades to solve it. Several research groups have developed techniques independently to map the predominantly dark matter distribution in cluster lenses. While these methods have all provided remarkably high precision mass maps, particularly with exquisite imaging data from the Hubble Space Telescope (HST), the reconstructions themselves have never been directly compared. In this paper, we report the results of comparing various independent lens modeling techniques employed by individual research groups in the community. Here we present for the first time a detailed and robust comparison of methodologies for fidelity, accuracy and precision. For this collaborative exercise, the lens modeling community was provided simulated cluster images -- of two clusters Ares and Hera -- that mimic the depth and resolution of the ongoing HST Frontier Fields. The results of the submitted reconstructions with the un-blinded true mass profile of these two clusters are presented here. Parametric, free-form and hybrid techniques have been deployed by the participating groups and we detail the strengths and trade-offs in accuracy and systematics that arise for each methodology. We note in conclusion that lensing reconstruction methods produce reliable mass distributions that enable the use of clusters as extremely valuable astrophysical laboratories and cosmological probes., Comment: 38 pages, 25 figures, submitted to MNRAS, version with full resolution images can be found at http://pico.bo.astro.it/~massimo/papers/FFsims.pdf

In spite of their conjectured importance for the Epoch of Reionization, the properties of low-mass galaxies are currently still under large debate. In this article, we study the stellar and gaseous properties of faint, low-mass galaxies at z>3. We observed the Frontier Fields cluster Abell S1063 with MUSE over a 2 arcmin^2 field, and combined integral-field spectroscopy with gravitational lensing to perform a blind search for intrinsically faint Lya emitters (LAEs). We determined in total the redshift of 172 galaxies of which 14 are lensed LAEs at z=3-6.1. We increased the number of spectroscopically-confirmed multiple-image families from 6 to 17 and updated our gravitational-lensing model accordingly. The lensing-corrected Lya luminosities are with L(Lya) <= 10^41.5 erg/s among the lowest for spectroscopically confirmed LAEs at any redshift. We used expanding gaseous shell models to fit the Lya line profile, and find low column densities and expansion velocities. This is to our knowledge the first time that gaseous properties of such faint galaxies at z>=3 are reported. We performed SED modelling to broadband photometry from the U-band through the infrared to determine the stellar properties of these LAEs. The stellar masses are very low (10^{6-8} Msun), and are accompanied by very young ages of 1-100 Myr. The very high specific star formation rates (~100 Gyr^-1) are characteristic of starburst galaxies. The UV-continuum slopes beta are low in our sample, with beta<-2 for all galaxies with M_star<10^8 Msun. We conclude that our low-mass galaxies at 3

We present a detailed strong lensing (SL) mass reconstruction of the core of the galaxy cluster MACSJ 2129.4-0741 ($\rm z_{cl}=0.589$) obtained by combining high-resolution HST photometry from the CLASH survey with new spectroscopic observations from the CLASH-VLT survey. A background bright red passive galaxy at $\rm z_{sp}=1.36$, sextuply lensed in the cluster core, has four radial lensed images located over the three central cluster members. Further 19 background lensed galaxies are spectroscopically confirmed by our VLT survey, including 3 additional multiple systems. A total of 31 multiple images are used in the lensing analysis. This allows us to trace with high precision the total mass profile of the cluster in its very inner region ($\rm R<100$ kpc). Our final lensing mass model reproduces the multiple images systems identified in the cluster core with high accuracy of $0.4"$. This translates to an high precision mass reconstruction of MACS 2129, which is constrained at level of 2%. The cluster has Einstein parameter $\Theta_E=(29\pm4)"$, and a projected total mass of $\rm M_{tot}(<\Theta_E)=(1.35\pm0.03)\times 10^{14}M_{\odot}$ within such radius. Together with the cluster mass profile, we provide here also the complete spectroscopic dataset for the cluster members and lensed images measured with VLT/VIMOS within the CLASH-VLT survey., Comment: 14 pages, 10 Figures. The VLT redshift catalog is available at "https://sites.google.com/site/vltclashpublic/data-release"

The Frontier Fields are a director's discretionary time campaign with HST and the Spitzer Space Telescope to see deeper into the universe than ever before. The Frontier Fields combine the power of HST and Spitzer with the natural gravitational telescopes of massive high-magnification clusters of galaxies to produce the deepest observations of clusters and their lensed galaxies ever obtained. Six clusters - Abell 2744, MACSJ0416.1-2403, MACSJ0717.5+3745, MACSJ1149.5+2223, Abell S1063, and Abell 370 - were selected based on their lensing strength, sky darkness, Galactic extinction, parallel field suitability, accessibility to ground-based facilities, HST, Spitzer and JWST observability, and pre-existing ancillary data. These clusters have been targeted by the HST ACS/WFC and WFC3/IR with coordinated parallels of adjacent blank fields for over 840 HST orbits. The Spitzer Space Telescope has dedicated > 1000 hours of director's discretionary time to obtain IRAC 3.6 and 4.5 micron imaging to ~26.5, 26.0 ABmag 5-sigma point-source depths in the six cluster and six parallel Frontier Fields. The Frontier Field parallel fields are the second-deepest observations thus far by HST with ~29th ABmag 5-sigma point source depths in seven optical - near-infrared bandpasses. Galaxies behind the Frontier Field cluster lenses experience typical magnification factors of a few, with small regions near the critical curves magnified by factors 10-100. Therefore, the Frontier Field cluster HST images achieve intrinsic depths of ~30-33 magnitudes over very small volumes. Early studies of the Frontier Fields have probed galaxies fainter than any seen before during the epoch of reionization 6 < z < 10, mapped out the cluster dark matter to unprecedented resolution, and followed lensed transient events., Comment: submitted to ApJ; 18 pages; see http://www.stsci.edu/hst/campaigns/frontier-fields/ and http://ssc.spitzer.caltech.edu/warmmission/scheduling/approvedprograms/ddt/frontier/ for data and more information

We present VLT/X-Shooter and MUSE spectroscopy of an faint F814W=28.60+/-0.33 (Muv=-17.0), low mass (~<10^7 Msun) and compact (Reff=62pc) freshly star-forming galaxy at z=3.1169 magnified (16x) by the Hubble Frontier Fields galaxy cluster Abell S1063. Gravitational lensing allows for a significant jump toward low-luminosity regimes, in moderately high resolution spectroscopy (R=lambda/dlambda ~ 3000-7400). We measured CIV1548,1550, HeII1640, OIII]1661,1666, CIII]1907,1909, Hbeta, [OIII]4959,5007, emission lines with FWHM< 50 km/s and (de-lensed) fluxes spanning the interval 1.0x10^-19 - 2.0x10^-18 erg/s/cm2 at S/N=4-30. The double peaked Lya emission with Delta_v(red-blue) = 280(+/-7)km/s and de-lensed fluxes 2.4_(blue)|8.5_(red)x10^-18 erg/s/cm2 (S/N=38_(blue)|110_(red)) indicate a low column density of neutral hydrogen gas consistent with a highly ionized interstellar medium as also inferred from the large [OIII]5007/[OII]3727>10 ratio. We detect CIV1548,1550 resonant doublet in emission, each component with FWHM ~< 45 km/s, and redshifted by +51(+/-10)km/s relative to the systemic redshift. We interpret this as nebular emission tracing an expanding optically-thin interstellar medium. Both CIV1548,1550 and HeII1640 suggest the presence of hot and massive stars (with a possible faint AGN). The ultraviolet slope is remarkably blue, beta =-2.95 +/- 0.20 (F_lambda=lambda^beta), consistent with a dust-free and young ~<20 Myr galaxy. Line ratios suggest an oxygen abundance 12+log(O/H)<7.8. We are witnessing an early episode of star-formation in which a relatively low NHI and negligible dust attenuation might favor a leakage of ionizing radiation. This galaxy currently represents a unique low-luminosity reference object for future studies of the reionization epoch with JWST., Comment: 7 pages, 4 figures and 1 table; ApJL, accepted for publication

We present the first results and design from the redshift z~9-10 Brightest of the Reionizing Galaxies {\it Hubble Space Telescope} survey BoRG[z9-10], aimed at searching for intrinsically luminous unlensed galaxies during the first 700 Myr after the Big Bang. BoRG[z9-10] is the continuation of a multi-year pure-parallel near-IR and optical imaging campaign with the Wide Field Camera 3. The ongoing survey uses five filters, optimized for detecting the most distant objects and offering continuous wavelength coverage from {\lambda}=0.35{\mu}m to {\lambda}=1.7{\mu}m. We analyze the initial ~130 arcmin$^2$ of area over 28 independent lines of sight (~25% of the total planned) to search for z>7 galaxies using a combination of Lyman break and photometric redshift selections. From an effective comoving volume of (5-25) $times 10^5$ Mpc$^3$ for magnitudes brighter than $m_{AB}=26.5-24.0$ in the $H_{160}$-band respectively, we find five galaxy candidates at z~8.3-10 detected at high confidence (S/N>8), including a source at z~8.4 with mAB=24.5 (S/N~22), which, if confirmed, would be the brightest galaxy identified at such early times (z>8). In addition, BoRG[z9-10] data yield four galaxies with $7.3 \lesssim z \lesssim 8$. These new Lyman break galaxies with m$\lesssim26.5$ are ideal targets for follow-up observations from ground and space based observatories to help investigate the complex interplay between dark matter growth, galaxy assembly, and reionization., Comment: Accepted for publication on ApJ. 21 pages, 11 figures, 4 tables

We perform a comprehensive study of the total mass distribution of the galaxy cluster RXCJ2248 ($z=0.348$) with a set of high-precision strong lensing models, which take advantage of extensive spectroscopic information on many multiply lensed systems. In the effort to understand and quantify inherent systematics in parametric strong lensing modelling, we explore a collection of 22 models where we use different samples of multiple image families, parametrizations of the mass distribution and cosmological parameters. As input information for the strong lensing models, we use the CLASH HST imaging data and spectroscopic follow-up observations, carried out with the VIMOS and MUSE spectrographs, to identify bona-fide multiple images. A total of 16 background sources, over the redshift range $1.0-6.1$, are multiply lensed into 47 images, 24 of which are spectroscopically confirmed and belong to 10 individual sources. The cluster total mass distribution and underlying cosmology in the models are optimized by matching the observed positions of the multiple images on the lens plane. We show that with a careful selection of a sample of spectroscopically confirmed multiple images, the best-fit model reproduces their observed positions with a rms of $0.3$ in a fixed flat $\Lambda$CDM cosmology, whereas the lack of spectroscopic information lead to biases in the values of the model parameters. Allowing cosmological parameters to vary together with the cluster parameters, we find (at $68\%$ confidence level) $\Omega_m=0.25^{+0.13}_{-0.16}$ and $w=-1.07^{+0.16}_{-0.42}$ for a flat $\Lambda$CDM model, and $\Omega_m=0.31^{+0.12}_{-0.13}$ and $\Omega_\Lambda=0.38^{+0.38}_{-0.27}$ for a universe with $w=-1$ and free curvature. Using toy models mimicking the overall configuration of RXCJ2248, we estimate the impact of the line of sight mass structure on the positional rms to be $0.3\pm 0.1$.(ABRIDGED), Comment: 23 pages, 13 figures, accepted for publication in A&A

We present VIMOS-VLT spectroscopy of the Frontier Fields cluster MACS~J0416.1-2403 (z=0.397). Taken as part of the CLASH-VLT survey, the large spectroscopic campaign provided more than 4000 reliable redshifts, including ~800 cluster member galaxies. The unprecedented sample of cluster members at this redshift allows us to perform a highly detailed dynamical and structural analysis of the cluster out to ~2.2$r_{200}$ (~4Mpc). Our analysis of substructures reveals a complex system composed of a main massive cluster ($M_{200}$~0.9$\times 10^{15} M_{\odot}$) presenting two major features: i) a bimodal velocity distribution, showing two central peaks separated by $\Delta V_{rf}$~1100 km s$^{-1}$ with comparable galaxy content and velocity dispersion, ii) a projected elongation of the main substructures along the NE-SW direction, with a prominent subclump ~600 kpc SW of the center and an isolated BCG approximately halfway between the center and the SW clump. We also detect a low mass structure at z~0.390, ~10' S of the cluster center, projected at ~3Mpc, with a relative line-of-sight velocity of $\Delta V_{rf}$~-1700 km s$^{-1}$. The cluster mass profile that we obtain through our dynamical analysis deviates significantly from the "universal" NFW, being best fit by a Softened Isothermal Sphere model instead. The mass profile measured from the galaxy dynamics is found to be in relatively good agreement with those obtained from strong and weak lensing, as well as with that from the X-rays, despite the clearly unrelaxed nature of the cluster. Our results reveal overall a complex dynamical state of this massive cluster and support the hypothesis that the two main subclusters are being observed in a pre-collisional phase, in line with recent findings from radio and deep X-ray data. With this article we also release the entire redshift catalog of 4386 sources in the field of this cluster., Comment: Accepted for publication on ApJS. Revised to match the accepted version; 21 pages, 18 figures, 9 tables. The CLASH-VLT spectroscopic catalogs are publicly available at: http://sites.google.com/site/vltclashpublic/

The deep, wide-area (~800-900 arcmin**2) near-infrared/WFC3/IR + Spitzer/IRAC observations over the CANDELS fields have been a remarkable resource for constraining the bright end of high redshift UV luminosity functions (LFs). However, the lack of HST 1.05-micron observations over the CANDELS fields has made it difficult to identify z~9-10 sources robustly, since such data are needed to confirm the presence of an abrupt Lyman break at 1.2 microns. We report here on the successful identification of many such z~9-10 sources from a new HST program (z9-CANDELS) that targets the highest-probability z~9-10 galaxy candidates with observations at 1.05 microns, to search for a robust Lyman-break at 1.2 microns. The potential z~9-10 candidates are preselected from the full HST, Spitzer/IRAC S-CANDELS observations, and the deepest-available ground-based optical+near-infrared observations. We identified 15 credible z~9-10 galaxies over the CANDELS fields. Nine of these galaxies lie at z~9 and 5 are new identifications. Our targeted follow-up strategy has proven to be very efficient in making use of scarce HST time to secure a reliable sample of z~9-10 galaxies. Through extensive simulations, we replicate the selection process for our sample (both the preselection and follow-up) and use it to improve current estimates for the volume density of bright z~9 and z~10 galaxies. The volume densities we find are 5(-2)(+3)x and 8(-3)(+9)x lower, respectively, than found at z~8. When compared with the best-fit evolution (i.e., dlog_{10} rho(UV)/dz=-0.29+/-0.02) in the UV luminosities densities from z~8 to z~4 integrated to 0.3L*(z=3) (-20 mag), these luminosity densities are 2.6(-0.9)(+1.5)x and 2.2(-1.1)(+2.0)x lower, respectively, than the extrapolated trends. Our new results are broadly consistent with the "accelerated evolution" scenario at z>8, as seen in many theoretical models., Comment: 23 pages, 15 figures, 7 tables, updated to match the version in press, including some minor textual corrections identified at the proof stage

In the effort to understand the link between the structure of galaxy clusters and their galaxy populations, we focus on MACSJ1206.2-0847 at z~0.44 and probe its substructure in the projected phase space through the spectrophotometric properties of a large number of galaxies from the CLASH-VLT survey. Our analysis is mainly based on an extensive spectroscopic dataset of 445 member galaxies, mostly acquired with VIMOS@VLT as part of our ESO Large Programme, sampling the cluster out to a radius ~2R200 (4 Mpc). We classify 412 galaxies as passive, with strong Hdelta absorption (red and blue galaxies, and with emission lines from weak to very strong. A number of tests for substructure detection are applied to analyze the galaxy distribution in the velocity space, in 2D space, and in 3D projected phase-space. Studied in its entirety, the cluster appears as a large-scale relaxed system with a few secondary, minor overdensities in 2D distribution. We detect no velocity gradients or evidence of deviations in local mean velocities. The main feature is the WNW-ESE elongation. The analysis of galaxy populations per spectral class highlights a more complex scenario. The passive galaxies and red strong Hdelta galaxies trace the cluster center and the WNW-ESE elongated structure. The red strong Hdelta galaxies also mark a secondary, dense peak ~2 Mpc at ESE. The emission line galaxies cluster in several loose structures, mostly outside R200. The observational scenario agrees with MACS J1206.2-0847 having WNW-ESE as the direction of the main cluster accretion, traced by passive galaxies and red strong Hdelta galaxies. The red strong Hdelta galaxies, interpreted as poststarburst galaxies, date a likely important event 1-2 Gyr before the epoch of observation. The emission line galaxies trace a secondary, ongoing infall where groups are accreted along several directions., Comment: A&A accepted, 19 pages, 30 figures, minor language changes

We use velocity dispersion measurements of 21 individual cluster members in the core of Abell 383, obtained with MMT Hectospec, to separate the galaxy and the smooth dark halo (DH) lensing contributions. While lensing usually constrains the overall, projected mass density, the innovative use of velocity dispersion measurements as a proxy for masses of individual cluster members breaks inherent degeneracies and allows us to (a) refine the constraints on single galaxy masses and on the galaxy mass-to-light scaling relation and, as a result, (b) refine the constraints on the DM-only map, a high-end goal of lens modelling. The knowledge of cluster member velocity dispersions improves the fit by 17% in terms of the image reproduction $\chi^2$, or 20% in terms of the rms. The constraints on the mass parameters improve by ~10% for the DH, while for the galaxy component, they are refined correspondingly by ~50%, including the galaxy halo truncation radius. For an L$^*$ galaxy with M$^*_B$=-20.96, for example, we obtain best fitting truncation radius r$^*_{tr}=20.5^{+9.6}_{-6.7}$ kpc and velocity dispersion $\sigma^*=324\pm17 km/s$. Moreover, by performing the surface brightness reconstruction of the southern giant arc, we improve the constraints on r$_{tr}$ of two nearby cluster members, which have measured velocity dispersions, by more than ~30%. We estimate the stripped mass for these two galaxies, getting results that are consistent with numerical simulations. In the future, we plan to apply this analysis to other galaxy clusters for which velocity dispersions of member galaxies are available., Comment: 19 pages, 14 figures, 5 tables; submitted to MNRAS on 29 Oct. 2014, Accepted for publication on 28 Nov. 2014

We present the first observations of the Frontier Fields Cluster Abell S1063 taken with the newly commissioned Multi Unit Spectroscopic Explorer (MUSE) integral field spectrograph. Because of the relatively large field of view (1 arcmin^2), MUSE is ideal to simultaneously target multiple galaxies in blank and cluster fields over the full optical spectrum. We analysed the four hours of data obtained in the Science Verification phase on this cluster and measured redshifts for 53 galaxies. We confirm the redshift of five cluster galaxies, and determine the redshift of 29 other cluster members. Behind the cluster, we find 17 galaxies at higher redshift, including three previously unknown Lyman-alpha emitters at z>3, and five multiply-lensed galaxies. We report the detection of a new z=4.113 multiply lensed galaxy, with images that are consistent with lensing model predictions derived for the Frontier Fields. We detect C III], C IV, and He II emission in a multiply lensed galaxy at z=3.116, suggesting the likely presence of an active galactic nucleus. We also created narrow-band images from the MUSE datacube to automatically search for additional line emitters corresponding to high-redshift candidates, but we could not identify any significant detections other than those found by visual inspection. With the new redshifts, it will become possible to obtain an accurate mass reconstruction in the core of Abell S1063 through refined strong lensing modelling. Overall, our results illustrate the breadth of scientific topics that can be addressed with a single MUSE pointing. We conclude that MUSE is a very efficient instrument to observe galaxy clusters, enabling their mass modelling, and to perform a blind search for high-redshift galaxies., Comment: 11 pages, 10 figures, accepted for publication in A&A

Context. The study of the galaxy stellar mass function (SMF) in relation to the galaxy environment and the stellar mass density profile, rho(r), is a powerful tool to constrain models of galaxy evolution. Aims. We determine the SMF of the z=0.44 cluster of galaxies MACS J1206.2-0847 separately for passive and star-forming (SF) galaxies, in different regions of the cluster, from the center out to approximately 2 virial radii. We also determine rho(r) to compare it to the number density and total mass density profiles. Methods. We use the dataset from the CLASH-VLT survey. Stellar masses are obtained by SED fitting on 5-band photometric data obtained at the Subaru telescope. We identify 1363 cluster members down to a stellar mass of 10^9.5 Msolar. Results. The whole cluster SMF is well fitted by a double Schechter function. The SMFs of cluster SF and passive galaxies are statistically different. The SMF of the SF cluster galaxies does not depend on the environment. The SMF of the passive population has a significantly smaller slope (in absolute value) in the innermost (<0.50 Mpc), highest density cluster region, than in more external, lower density regions. The number ratio of giant/subgiant galaxies is maximum in this innermost region and minimum in the adjacent region, but then gently increases again toward the cluster outskirts. This is also reflected in a decreasing radial trend of the average stellar mass per cluster galaxy. On the other hand, the stellar mass fraction, i.e., the ratio of stellar to total cluster mass, does not show any significant radial trend. Conclusions. Our results appear consistent with a scenario in which SF galaxies evolve into passive galaxies due to density-dependent environmental processes, and eventually get destroyed very near the cluster center to become part of a diffuse intracluster medium., Comment: A&A accepted, 15 pages, 13 figures

We present a detailed mass reconstruction and a novel study on the substructure properties in the core of the CLASH and Frontier Fields galaxy cluster MACS J0416.1-2403. We show and employ our extensive spectroscopic data set taken with the VIMOS instrument as part of our CLASH-VLT program, to confirm spectroscopically 10 strong lensing systems and to select a sample of 175 plausible cluster members to a limiting stellar mass of log(M_*/M_Sun) ~ 8.6. We reproduce the measured positions of 30 multiple images with a remarkable median offset of only 0.3" by means of a comprehensive strong lensing model comprised of 2 cluster dark-matter halos, represented by cored elliptical pseudo-isothermal mass distributions, and the cluster member components. The latter have total mass-to-light ratios increasing with the galaxy HST/WFC3 near-IR (F160W) luminosities. The measurement of the total enclosed mass within the Einstein radius is accurate to ~5%, including systematic uncertainties. We emphasize that the use of multiple-image systems with spectroscopic redshifts and knowledge of cluster membership based on extensive spectroscopic information is key to constructing robust high-resolution mass maps. We also produce magnification maps over the central area that is covered with HST observations. We investigate the galaxy contribution, both in terms of total and stellar mass, to the total mass budget of the cluster. When compared with the outcomes of cosmological $N$-body simulations, our results point to a lack of massive subhalos in the inner regions of simulated clusters with total masses similar to that of MACS J0416.1-2403. Our findings of the location and shape of the cluster dark-matter halo density profiles and on the cluster substructures provide intriguing tests of the assumed collisionless, cold nature of dark matter and of the role played by baryons in the process of structure formation., Comment: 26 pages, 22 figures, 7 tables; accepted for publication in the Astrophysical Journal. A high-resolution version is available at https://sites.google.com/site/vltclashpublic/publications/Grillo_etal_2014.pdf

We present the results of a numerical study based on the analysis of the MUSIC-2 simulations, aimed at estimating the expected concentration-mass relation for the CLASH cluster sample. We study nearly 1400 halos simulated at high spatial and mass resolution, which were projected along many lines-of-sight each. We study the shape of both their density and surface-density profiles and fit them with a variety of radial functions, including the Navarro-Frenk-White, the generalised Navarro-Frenk-White, and the Einasto density profiles. We derive concentrations and masses from these fits and investigate their distributions as a function of redshift and halo relaxation. We use the X-ray image simulator X-MAS to produce simulated Chandra observations of the halos and we use them to identify objects resembling the X-ray morphologies and masses of the clusters in the CLASH X-ray selected sample. We also derive a concentration-mass relation for strong-lensing clusters. We find that the sample of simulated halos which resemble the X-ray morphology of the CLASH clusters is composed mainly by relaxed halos, but it also contains a significant fraction of un-relaxed systems. For such a sample we measure an average 2D concentration which is ~11% higher than found for the full sample of simulated halos. After accounting for projection and selection effects, the average NFW concentrations of CLASH clusters are expected to be intermediate between those predicted in 3D for relaxed and super-relaxed halos. Matching the simulations to the individual CLASH clusters on the basis of the X-ray morphology, we expect that the NFW concentrations recovered from the lensing analysis of the CLASH clusters are in the range [3-6], with an average value of 3.87 and a standard deviation of 0.61. Simulated halos with X-ray morphologies similar to those of the CLASH clusters are affected by a modest orientation bias., Comment: 21 pages, 16 figures, 3 tables, submitted to ApJ

We present a new determination of the concentration-mass relation for galaxy clusters based on our comprehensive lensing analysis of 19 X-ray selected galaxy clusters from the Cluster Lensing and Supernova Survey with Hubble (CLASH). Our sample spans a redshift range between 0.19 and 0.89. We combine weak lensing constraints from the Hubble Space Telescope (HST) and from ground-based wide field data with strong lensing constraints from HST. The result are reconstructions of the surface-mass density for all CLASH clusters on multi-scale grids. Our derivation of NFW parameters yields virial masses between 0.53 x 10^15 and 1.76 x 10^15 M_sol/h and the halo concentrations are distributed around c_200c ~ 3.7 with a 1-sigma significant negative trend with cluster mass. We find an excellent 4% agreement between our measured concentrations and the expectation from numerical simulations after accounting for the CLASH selection function based on X-ray morphology. The simulations are analyzed in 2D to account for possible biases in the lensing reconstructions due to projection effects. The theoretical concentration-mass (c-M) relation from our X-ray selected set of simulated clusters and the c-M relation derived directly from the CLASH data agree at the 90% confidence level., Comment: 24 pages, 15 figures and 10 tables. Submitted to ApJ. (Minor, non-scientific changes since ver1, added acknowledgement, added arXiv references to companion papers, fixed arXiv author list mistake.)

The Javalambre-Physics of the Accelerated Universe Astrophysical Survey (J-PAS) is a narrow band, very wide field Cosmological Survey to be carried out from the Javalambre Observatory in Spain with a purpose-built, dedicated 2.5m telescope and a 4.7 sq.deg. camera with 1.2Gpix. Starting in late 2015, J-PAS will observe 8500sq.deg. of Northern Sky and measure $0.003(1+z)$ photo-z for $9\times10^7$ LRG and ELG galaxies plus several million QSOs, sampling an effective volume of $\sim 14$ Gpc$^3$ up to $z=1.3$ and becoming the first radial BAO experiment to reach Stage IV. J-PAS will detect $7\times 10^5$ galaxy clusters and groups, setting constrains on Dark Energy which rival those obtained from its BAO measurements. Thanks to the superb characteristics of the site (seeing ~0.7 arcsec), J-PAS is expected to obtain a deep, sub-arcsec image of the Northern sky, which combined with its unique photo-z precision will produce one of the most powerful cosmological lensing surveys before the arrival of Euclid. J-PAS unprecedented spectral time domain information will enable a self-contained SN survey that, without the need for external spectroscopic follow-up, will detect, classify and measure $\sigma_z\sim 0.5\%$ redshifts for $\sim 4000$ SNeIa and $\sim 900$ core-collapse SNe. The key to the J-PAS potential is its innovative approach: a contiguous system of 54 filters with $145\AA$ width, placed $100\AA$ apart over a multi-degree FoV is a powerful "redshift machine", with the survey speed of a 4000 multiplexing low resolution spectrograph, but many times cheaper and much faster to build. The J-PAS camera is equivalent to a 4.7 sq.deg. "IFU" and it will produce a time-resolved, 3D image of the Northern Sky with a very wide range of Astrophysical applications in Galaxy Evolution, the nearby Universe and the study of resolved stellar populations., Comment: 215 pages, 70 figures. J-PAS "Red Book", containing a description of the technical aspects of the Survey and its main scientific goals

We aim at constraining the assembly history of clusters by studying the intra cluster light (ICL) properties, estimating its contribution to the fraction of baryons in stars, f*, and understanding possible systematics/bias using different ICL detection techniques. We developed an automated method, GALtoICL, based on the software GALAPAGOS to obtain a refined version of typical BCG+ICL maps. We applied this method to our test case MACS J1206.2-0847, a massive cluster located at z=0.44, that is part of the CLASH sample. Using deep multi-band SUBARU images, we extracted the surface brightness (SB) profile of the BCG+ICL and we studied the ICL morphology, color, and contribution to f* out to R500. We repeated the same analysis using a different definition of the ICL, SBlimit method, i.e. a SB cut-off level, to compare the results. The most peculiar feature of the ICL in MACS1206 is its asymmetric radial distribution, with an excess in the SE direction and extending towards the 2nd brightest cluster galaxy which is a Post Starburst galaxy. This suggests an interaction between the BCG and this galaxy that dates back to t <= 1.5 Gyr. The BCG+ICL stellar content is 8% of M_(*,500) and the (de-) projected baryon fraction in stars is f*=0.0177 (0.0116), in excellent agreement with recent results. The SBlimit method provides systematically higher ICL fractions and this effect is larger at lower SB limits. This is due to the light from the outer envelopes of member galaxies that contaminate the ICL. Though more time consuming, the GALtoICL method provides safer ICL detections that are almost free of this contamination. This is one of the few ICL study at redshift z > 0.3. At completion, the CLASH/VLT program will allow us to extend this analysis to a statistically significant cluster sample spanning a wide redshift range: 0.2

We present a strong lensing system in which a double source is imaged 5 times by 2 early-type galaxies. We take advantage in this target of the multi-band photometry obtained as part of the CLASH program, complemented by the spectroscopic data of the VLT/VIMOS and FORS2 follow-up campaign. We use a photometric redshift of 3.7 for the source and confirm spectroscopically the membership of the 2 lenses to the galaxy cluster MACS J1206.2-0847 at redshift 0.44. We exploit the excellent angular resolution of the HST/ACS images to model the 2 lenses in terms of singular isothermal sphere profiles and derive robust effective velocity dispersions of (97 +/- 3) and (240 +/- 6) km/s. The total mass distribution of the cluster is also well characterized by using only the local information contained in this lensing system, that is located at a projected distance of more than 300 kpc from the cluster luminosity center. According to our best-fitting lensing and composite stellar population models, the source is magnified by a total factor of 50 and has a luminous mass of about (1.0 +/- 0.5) x 10^{9} M_{Sun}. By combining the total and luminous mass estimates of the 2 lenses, we measure luminous over total mass fractions projected within the effective radii of 0.51 +/- 0.21 and 0.80 +/- 0.32. With these lenses we can extend the analysis of the mass properties of lens early-type galaxies by factors that are about 2 and 3 times smaller than previously done with regard to, respectively, velocity dispersion and luminous mass. The comparison of the total and luminous quantities of our lenses with those of astrophysical objects with different physical scales reveals the potential of studies of this kind for investigating the internal structure of galaxies. These studies, made possible thanks to the CLASH survey, will allow us to go beyond the current limits posed by the available lens samples in the field., Comment: 20 pages, 10 figures, accepted for publication in the Astrophysical Journal

Hubble Space Telescope imaging of the galaxy cluster Abell 1689 has revealed an exceptional number of strongly lensed multiply-imaged galaxies, including high-redshift candidates. Previous studies have used this data to obtain the most detailed dark matter reconstructions of any galaxy cluster to date, resolving substructures ~25 kpc across. We examine Abell 1689 (hereafter, A1689) non-parametrically, combining strongly lensed images and weak distortions from wider field Subaru imaging, and we incorporate member galaxies to improve the lens solution. Strongly lensed galaxies are often locally affected by member galaxies, however, these perturbations cannot be recovered in grid based reconstructions because the lensing information is too sparse to resolve member galaxies. By adding luminosity-scaled member galaxy deflections to our smooth grid we can derive meaningful solutions with sufficient accuracy to permit the identification of our own strongly lensed images, so our model becomes self consistent. We identify 11 new multiply lensed system candidates and clarify previously ambiguous cases, in the deepest optical and NIR data to date from Hubble and Subaru. Our improved spatial resolution brings up new features not seen when the weak and strong lensing effects are used separately, including clumps and filamentary dark matter around the main halo. Our treatment means we can obtain an objective mass ratio between the cluster and galaxy components, for examining the extent of tidal stripping of the luminous member galaxies. We find a typical mass-to-light ratios of M/L_B = 21 inside the r<1 arcminute region that drops to M/L_B = 17 inside the r<40 arcsecond region. Our model independence means we can objectively evaluate the competitiveness of stacking cluster lenses for defining the geometric lensing-distance-redshift relation in a model independent way., Comment: 23 pages with 25 figures Replced with MNRAS submitted version. Some figures have been corrected and minor text edits

We report the LBT/MODS1 spectroscopic confirmation of two images of faint Lyman alpha emitters at $z=6.4$ behind the Frontier Fields galaxy cluster MACSJ0717.5+3745. A wide range of lens models suggests that the two images are highly magnified, with a strong lower limit of mu>5. These are the faintest z>6 candidates spectroscopically confirmed to date. These may be also multiple images of the same z=6.4 source as supported by their similar intrinsic properties, but the lens models are inconclusive regarding this interpretation. To be cautious, we derive the physical properties of each image individually. Thanks to the high magnification, the observed near-infrared (restframe ultraviolet) part of the spectral energy distributions and Ly-alpha lines are well detected with S/N(m_1500)>~10 and S/N(Ly-alpha)~10-15. Adopting mu>5, the absolute magnitudes, M_1500, and Ly-alpha fluxes, are fainter than -18.7 and 2.8x10^(-18)erg/s/cm2, respectively. We find a very steep ultraviolet spectral slope beta=-3.0+/-0.5 (F_lambda=lambda^(beta)), implying that these are very young, dust-free and low metallicity objects, made of standard stellar populations or even extremely metal poor stars (age<~30Myr, E(B-V)=0 and metallicity 0.0-0.2 Z/Zsolar). The objects are compact (< 1 kpc^(2)), and with a stellar mass M* < 10^(8) M_solar. The very steep beta, the presence of the Ly-alpha line and the intrinsic FWHM (<300 km/s) of these newborn objects do not exclude a possible leakage of ionizing radiation. We discuss the possibility that such faint galaxies may resemble those responsible for cosmic reionization., Comment: Accepted by ApJL; 6 pages, 4 figures, 1 table, emulateapj format

We present the supernova (SN) sample and Type-Ia SN (SN Ia) rates from the Cluster Lensing And Supernova survey with Hubble (CLASH). Using the Advanced Camera for Surveys and the Wide Field Camera 3 on the Hubble Space Telescope (HST), we have imaged 25 galaxy-cluster fields and parallel fields of non-cluster galaxies. We report a sample of 27 SNe discovered in the parallel fields. Of these SNe, ~13 are classified as SN Ia candidates, including four SN Ia candidates at redshifts z > 1.2. We measure volumetric SN Ia rates to redshift 1.8 and add the first upper limit on the SN Ia rate in the range 1.8 < z < 2.4. The results are consistent with the rates measured by the HST/GOODS and Subaru Deep Field SN surveys. We model these results together with previous measurements at z < 1 from the literature. The best-fitting SN Ia delay-time distribution (DTD; the distribution of times that elapse between a short burst of star formation and subsequent SN Ia explosions) is a power law with an index of -1.00 +0.06(0.09) -0.06(0.10) (statistical) +0.12 -0.08 (systematic), where the statistical uncertainty is a result of the 68% and 95% (in parentheses) statistical uncertainties reported for the various SN Ia rates (from this work and from the literature), and the systematic uncertainty reflects the range of possible cosmic star-formation histories. We also test DTD models produced by an assortment of published binary population synthesis (BPS) simulations. The shapes of all BPS double-degenerate DTDs are consistent with the volumetric SN Ia measurements, when the DTD models are scaled up by factors of 3-9. In contrast, all BPS single-degenerate DTDs are ruled out by the measurements at a >99% significance level., Comment: Accepted by ApJ. 19 pages, 14 figures, 6 tables. Minor corrections

We present VIsible Multi-Object Spectrograph (VIMOS) observations of a z 6 galaxy quintuply imaged by the Frontier Fields galaxy cluster RXC J2248.7-4431 (z=0.348). This sub-L^*, high-z galaxy has been recently discovered by Monna et al. (2013) using dropout techniques with the 16-band HST photometry acquired as part of the Cluster Lensing And Supernova survey with Hubble (CLASH). Obtained as part of the CLASH-VLT survey, the VIMOS medium-resolution spectra of this source show a very faint continuum between ~8700A and ~9300A and a prominent emission line at 8643A, which can be readily identified with Lyman-alpha at z=6.110. The emission line exhibits an asymmetric profile, with a more pronounced red wing. The rest-frame equivalent width of the line is EW=79+-10A. After correcting for magnification, the star-formation rate (SFR) estimated from the Lya line is SFR(Lya)=11 M_{sol}/yr and that estimated from the UV data is SFR(UV)=3 M_{sol}/yr. We estimate that the effective radius of the source is R_e<~0.4 kpc, which implies a star formation surface mass density Sigma_{SFR}>6 M_{sol}/yr/kpc^2 and, using the Kennicutt-Schmidt relation, a gas surface mass density Sigma_{gas}>10^3 M_{sol}/pc^2. Our results support the idea that this magnified, distant galaxy is a young and compact object with 0.4 L^* at z=6, with comparable amount of mass in gas and stars. Future follow-up observations with ALMA will provide valuable insight into the SFR and molecular gas content of this source. In the spirit of the Frontier Fields initiative, we also publish the redshifts of several multiply imaged sources and other background objects which will help improving the strong lensing model of this galaxy cluster., Comment: 4 pages, 3 figures, 1 table, Accepted for publication in A&A (minor changes, published version)

We present a quintuply lensed z ~ 6 candidate discovered in the field of the galaxy cluster RXC J2248.7-4431 (z ~ 0.348) targeted within the Cluster Lensing and Supernova survey with Hubble (CLASH) and selected in the deep HST Frontier Fields survey. Thanks to the CLASH 16-band HST imaging, we identify the quintuply lensed z ~ 6 candidate as an optical dropout in the inner region of the cluster, the brightest image having magAB=24.81+-0.02 in the f105w filter. We perform a detailed photometric analysis to verify its high-z and lensed nature. We get as photometric redshift z_phot ~ 5.9, and given the extended nature and NIR colours of the lensed images, we rule out low-z early type and galactic star contaminants. We perform a strong lensing analysis of the cluster, using 13 families of multiple lensed images identified in the HST images. Our final best model predicts the high-z quintuply lensed system with a position accuracy of 0.8''. The magnifications of the five images are between 2.2 and 8.3, which leads to a delensed UV luminosity of L_1600 ~ 0.5L*_1600 at z=6. We also estimate the UV slope from the observed NIR colours, finding a steep beta=-2.89+-0.38. We use singular and composite stellar population SEDs to fit the photometry of the hiz candidate, and we conclude that it is a young (age <300 Myr) galaxy with mass of M ~ 10^8Msol, subsolar metallicity (Z<0.2Zsol) and low dust content (AV ~ 0.2-0.4)., Comment: 21 pages, 13 figures, 6 tables, submitted to MNRAS on 11 Aug 2013, accepted on 23 Nov 2013

We utilize 16 band Hubble Space Telescope (HST) observations of 18 lensing clusters obtained as part of the Cluster Lensing And Supernova survey with Hubble (CLASH) Multi-Cycle Treasury program to search for $z\sim6-8$ galaxies. We report the discovery of 204, 45, and 13 Lyman-break galaxy candidates at $z\sim6$, $z\sim7$, and $z\sim8$, respectively, identified from purely photometric redshift selections. This large sample, representing nearly an order of magnitude increase in the number of magnified star-forming galaxies at $z\sim 6-8$ presented to date, is unique in that we have observations in four WFC3/UVIS UV, seven ACS/WFC optical, and all five WFC3/IR broadband filters, which enable very accurate photometric redshift selections. We construct detailed lensing models for 17 of the 18 clusters to estimate object magnifications and to identify two new multiply lensed $z \gtrsim 6$ candidates. The median magnifications over the 17 clusters are 4, 4, and 5 for the $z\sim6$, $z\sim7$, and $z\sim8$ samples, respectively, over an average area of 4.5 arcmin$^2$ per cluster. We compare our observed number counts with expectations based on convolving "blank" field UV luminosity functions through our cluster lens models and find rough agreement down to $\sim27$ mag, where we begin to suffer significant incompleteness. In all three redshift bins, we find a higher number density at brighter observed magnitudes than the field predictions, empirically demonstrating for the first time the enhanced efficiency of lensing clusters over field surveys. Our number counts also are in general agreement with the lensed expectations from the cluster models, especially at $z\sim6$, where we have the best statistics., Comment: Accepted for publication in the Astrophysical Journal, 25 pages, 13 figures, 7 tables

The Cluster Lensing And Supernovae survey with Hubble (CLASH) is an Hubble Space Telescope (HST) Multi-Cycle Treasury program observing 25 massive galaxy clusters. CLASH observations are carried out in 16 bands from UV to NIR to derive accurate and reliable estimates of photometric redshifts. We present the CLASH photometric redshifts and study the photometric redshift accuracy of the arcs in more detail for the case of MACS1206.2-0847. We use the publicly available Le Phare and BPZ photometric redshift codes on 17 CLASH galaxy clusters. Using Le Phare code for objects with StoN>=10, we reach a precision of 3%(1+z) for the strong lensing arcs, which is reduced to 2.4%(1+z) after removing outliers. For galaxies in the cluster field the corresponding values are 4%(1+z) and 3%(1+z). Using mock galaxy catalogues, we show that 3%(1+z) precision is what one would expect from the CLASH photometry when taking into account extinction from dust, emission lines and the finite range of SEDs included in the photo-z template library. We study photo-z results for different aperture photometry and find that the SExtractor isophotal photometry works best. Le Phare and BPZ give similar photo-z results for the strong lensing arcs as well as galaxies of the cluster field. Results are improved when optimizing the photometric aperture shape showing an optimal aperture size around 1" radius giving results which are equivalent to isophotal photometry. Tailored photometry of the arcs improve the photo-z results., Comment: Accepted in A&A on nov 2013

Growing observational evidence now indicates that nebular line emission has a significant impact on the rest-frame optical fluxes of z~5-7 galaxies observed with Spitzer. This line emission makes z~5-7 galaxies appear more massive, with lower specific star formation rates. However, corrections for this line emission have been very difficult to perform reliably due to huge uncertainties on the overall strength of such emission at z>~5.5. Here, we present the most direct observational evidence yet for ubiquitous high-EW [OIII]+Hbeta line emission in Lyman-break galaxies at z~7, while also presenting a strategy for an improved measurement of the sSFR at z~7. We accomplish this through the selection of bright galaxies in the narrow redshift window z~6.6-7.0 where the IRAC 4.5 micron flux provides a clean measurement of the stellar continuum light. Observed 4.5 micron fluxes in this window contrast with the 3.6 micron fluxes which are contaminated by the prominent [OIII]+Hbeta lines. To ensure a high S/N for our IRAC flux measurements, we consider only the brightest (H_{160}<26 mag) magnified galaxies we have identified in CLASH and other programs targeting galaxy clusters. Remarkably, the mean rest-frame optical color for our bright seven-source sample is very blue, [3.6]-[4.5]=-0.9+/-0.3. Such blue colors cannot be explained by the stellar continuum light and require that the rest-frame EW of [OIII]+Hbeta be greater than 637 Angstroms for the average source. The bluest four sources from our seven-source sample require an even more extreme EW of 1582 Angstroms. Our derived lower limit for the mean [OIII]+Hbeta EW could underestimate the true EW by ~2x based on a simple modeling of the redshift distribution of our sources. We can also set a robust lower limit of >~4 Gyr^-1 on the specific star formation rates based on the mean SED for our seven-source sample. (abridged), Comment: 9 pages, 6 figures, 1 table, submitted to the Astrophysical Journal