A gravitationally lensed quasar with quadruple images separated by 14.62 arcseconds

Naohisa Inada (), Masamune Oguri, Bartosz Pindor, Joseph F. Hennawi, Kuenley Chiu, Wei Zheng, Shin-Ichi Ichikawa, Michael D. Gregg, Robert H. Becker, Yasushi Suto, Michael A. Strauss, Edwin L. Turner, Charles R. Keeton, James Annis, Francisco J. Castander, Daniel J. Eisenstein, Joshua A. Frieman, Masataka Fukugita, James E. Gunn, David E. Johnston, Stephen M. Kent, Robert C. Nichol, Gordon T. Richards, Hans-Walter Rix, Erin Scott Sheldon, Neta A. Bahcall, J. Brinkmann, Željko Ivezić, Don Q. Lamb, Timothy A. McKay, Donald P. Schneider and Donald G. York
Additional contact information
Naohisa Inada: School of Science, The University of Tokyo
Masamune Oguri: School of Science, The University of Tokyo
Bartosz Pindor: Princeton University Observatory
Joseph F. Hennawi: Princeton University Observatory
Kuenley Chiu: Johns Hopkins University
Wei Zheng: Johns Hopkins University
Shin-Ichi Ichikawa: National Astronomical Observatory
Michael D. Gregg: University of California at Davis
Robert H. Becker: University of California at Davis
Yasushi Suto: School of Science, The University of Tokyo
Michael A. Strauss: Princeton University Observatory
Edwin L. Turner: Princeton University Observatory
Charles R. Keeton: University of Chicago
James Annis: Fermi National Accelerator Laboratory
Francisco J. Castander: Institut d'Estudis Espacials de Catalunya/CSIC
Daniel J. Eisenstein: University of Arizona
Joshua A. Frieman: University of Chicago
Masataka Fukugita: The University of Tokyo
James E. Gunn: Princeton University Observatory
David E. Johnston: University of Chicago
Stephen M. Kent: Fermi National Accelerator Laboratory
Robert C. Nichol: Carnegie Mellon University
Gordon T. Richards: Princeton University Observatory
Hans-Walter Rix: Max-Planck Institute for Astronomy
Erin Scott Sheldon: University of Chicago
Neta A. Bahcall: Princeton University Observatory
J. Brinkmann: Apache Point Observatory
Željko Ivezić: Princeton University Observatory
Don Q. Lamb: University of Chicago
Timothy A. McKay: University of Michigan
Donald P. Schneider: Pennsylvania State University
Donald G. York: University of Chicago

Nature, 2003, vol. 426, issue 6968, 810-812

Abstract: Abstract Gravitational lensing is a powerful tool for the study of the distribution of dark matter in the Universe. The cold-dark-matter model of the formation of large-scale structures (that is, clusters of galaxies and even larger assemblies) predicts1,2,3,4,5,6 the existence of quasars gravitationally lensed by concentrations of dark matter7 so massive that the quasar images would be split by over 7 arcsec. Numerous searches8,9,10,11 for large-separation lensed quasars have, however, been unsuccessful. All of the roughly 70 lensed quasars known12, including the first lensed quasar discovered13, have smaller separations that can be explained in terms of galaxy-scale concentrations of baryonic matter. Although gravitationally lensed galaxies14 with large separations are known, quasars are more useful cosmological probes because of the simplicity of the resulting lens systems. Here we report the discovery of a lensed quasar, SDSS J1004 + 4112, which has a maximum separation between the components of 14.62 arcsec. Such a large separation means that the lensing object must be dominated by dark matter. Our results are fully consistent with theoretical expectations3,4,5 based on the cold-dark-matter model.

Date: 2003
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DOI: 10.1038/nature02153

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