3 years ago

# Precise weak lensing constraints from deep high-resolution $K_\mathrm{s}$ images: VLT/HAWK-I analysis of the super-massive galaxy cluster RCS2$J$232727.7$-$020437 at $z=0.70$.

Douglas Applegate, Marusa Bradac, Mischa Schirmer, Remco F. J. van der Burg, Beatriz Hernández-Martín, Tim Eifler, Keren Sharon, Tim Schrabback, Thomas Erben, Dominik Klaes, Danilo Marchesini, Mauro Stefanon, Anja von der Linden, Michael D. Gladders, Adam Muzzin, Austin Hoag, Henk Hoekstra, Axel Buddendiek, Hendrik Hildebrandt

We demonstrate that deep good-seeing VLT/HAWK-I $K_\mathrm{s}$ images complemented with $g$+$z$-band photometry can yield a sensitivity for weak lensing studies of massive galaxy clusters at redshifts $0.7\lesssim z \lesssim 1.1$ that is almost identical to the sensitivity of HST/ACS mosaics of single-orbit depth. Key reasons for this good performance are the excellent image quality frequently achievable for $K_\mathrm{s}$ imaging from the ground, a highly effective photometric selection of background galaxies, and a galaxy ellipticity dispersion that is noticeably lower than for optically observed high-redshift galaxy samples. Incorporating results from 3D-HST and UltraVISTA we also obtain a more accurate calibration of the source redshift distribution than previously achieved for similar optical weak lensing data sets. Here we study the extremely massive galaxy cluster RCS2$J$232727.7$-$020437 ($z=0.699$), combining deep VLT/HAWK-I $K_\mathrm{s}$ images (PSF $\mathrm{FWHM}=0.35^{\prime\prime}$) with LBT/LBC photometry. The resulting weak lensing mass reconstruction suggests that the cluster consists of a single overdensity, which is detected with a peak significance of $10.1\sigma$. We constrain the cluster mass to $M_\mathrm{200c}/(10^{15} \mathrm{M}_\odot) =2.06^{+0.28}_{-0.26}(\mathrm{stat.})\pm 0.12 (\mathrm{sys.})$ assuming a spherical NFW model and simulation-based priors on the concentration, making it one of the most massive galaxy clusters known in the $z\gtrsim 0.7$ Universe. We also cross-check the HAWK-I measurements through an analysis of overlapping HST/ACS images, yielding fully consistent estimates of the lensing signal.

Publisher URL: http://arxiv.org/abs/1711.00475

DOI: arXiv:1711.00475v1

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