_version_ 1866911408584654848
author Rihtaršič, Gregor
Bradač, Maruša
Desprez, Guillaume
Harshan, Anishya
Martis, Nicholas S.
Willott, Chris J.
Asada, Yoshihisa
Sarrouh, Ghassan T. E.
Cornil-Baiotto, Carla
Biviano, Andrea
Clowe, Douglas
Gonzalez, Anthony H.
Jones, Christine
Judež, Jon
Kim, Stacy Y.
Lombardi, Marco
Marchesini, Danilo
Markevitch, Maxim
Markov, Vladan
Noirot, Gaël
Peter, Annika H. G.
Randall, Scott W.
Robertson, Andrew
Sawicki, Marcin
Tripodi, Roberta
author_facet Rihtaršič, Gregor
Bradač, Maruša
Desprez, Guillaume
Harshan, Anishya
Martis, Nicholas S.
Willott, Chris J.
Asada, Yoshihisa
Sarrouh, Ghassan T. E.
Cornil-Baiotto, Carla
Biviano, Andrea
Clowe, Douglas
Gonzalez, Anthony H.
Jones, Christine
Judež, Jon
Kim, Stacy Y.
Lombardi, Marco
Marchesini, Danilo
Markevitch, Maxim
Markov, Vladan
Noirot, Gaël
Peter, Annika H. G.
Randall, Scott W.
Robertson, Andrew
Sawicki, Marcin
Tripodi, Roberta
contents We present an updated gravitational lens model of the Bullet cluster (1E 0657-56) by combining JWST NIRCam imaging and NIRSpec spectroscopy. Although previous lens models relied on many multiply imaged galaxies, only six systems had spectroscopic redshifts prior to this work. Our lens model is constrained by a catalogue of 135 secure multiple images from 27 background galaxies with spectroscopic redshifts, uniformly covering both subclusters and a wide redshift range of 0.9 - 6.7. We also provide a catalogue of 199 multiple image candidates. We model the cluster with Lenstool and incorporate several large-scale haloes, cluster members, the intracluster gas, and group-scale haloes surrounding the cluster core, motivated by spectroscopic studies of cluster member kinematics. We describe the main cluster component with a complex, elongated double-peaked distribution, and the subcluster with a single large-scale halo aligning closely with the brightest cluster galaxy ($4_{-2}^{+4}$ kpc). The uncertainty of the alignment is improved threefold with the addition of JWST systems. The addition of group-scale substructures, roughly following the two axes of cluster assembly, improves the fit to the multiple image positions and provides a physically motivated alternative to constant shear. Our lens model shows the closest agreement with previous studies in aperture mass profiles at $\sim60$ kpc from the BCGs, but exhibits significant differences in the detailed mass distribution as a result of different lens-modelling strategies and adopted constraints. The differences are reflected in small but spatially coherent deviations between the new spectroscopic redshifts and redshifts predicted by earlier lens models.
format Preprint
id arxiv_https___arxiv_org_abs_2601_22245
institution arXiv
publishDate 2026
record_format arxiv
spellingShingle Mapping dark matter in the Bullet Cluster using JWST imaging and spectroscopy
Rihtaršič, Gregor
Bradač, Maruša
Desprez, Guillaume
Harshan, Anishya
Martis, Nicholas S.
Willott, Chris J.
Asada, Yoshihisa
Sarrouh, Ghassan T. E.
Cornil-Baiotto, Carla
Biviano, Andrea
Clowe, Douglas
Gonzalez, Anthony H.
Jones, Christine
Judež, Jon
Kim, Stacy Y.
Lombardi, Marco
Marchesini, Danilo
Markevitch, Maxim
Markov, Vladan
Noirot, Gaël
Peter, Annika H. G.
Randall, Scott W.
Robertson, Andrew
Sawicki, Marcin
Tripodi, Roberta
Cosmology and Nongalactic Astrophysics
Astrophysics of Galaxies
We present an updated gravitational lens model of the Bullet cluster (1E 0657-56) by combining JWST NIRCam imaging and NIRSpec spectroscopy. Although previous lens models relied on many multiply imaged galaxies, only six systems had spectroscopic redshifts prior to this work. Our lens model is constrained by a catalogue of 135 secure multiple images from 27 background galaxies with spectroscopic redshifts, uniformly covering both subclusters and a wide redshift range of 0.9 - 6.7. We also provide a catalogue of 199 multiple image candidates. We model the cluster with Lenstool and incorporate several large-scale haloes, cluster members, the intracluster gas, and group-scale haloes surrounding the cluster core, motivated by spectroscopic studies of cluster member kinematics. We describe the main cluster component with a complex, elongated double-peaked distribution, and the subcluster with a single large-scale halo aligning closely with the brightest cluster galaxy ($4_{-2}^{+4}$ kpc). The uncertainty of the alignment is improved threefold with the addition of JWST systems. The addition of group-scale substructures, roughly following the two axes of cluster assembly, improves the fit to the multiple image positions and provides a physically motivated alternative to constant shear. Our lens model shows the closest agreement with previous studies in aperture mass profiles at $\sim60$ kpc from the BCGs, but exhibits significant differences in the detailed mass distribution as a result of different lens-modelling strategies and adopted constraints. The differences are reflected in small but spatially coherent deviations between the new spectroscopic redshifts and redshifts predicted by earlier lens models.
title Mapping dark matter in the Bullet Cluster using JWST imaging and spectroscopy
topic Cosmology and Nongalactic Astrophysics
Astrophysics of Galaxies
url https://arxiv.org/abs/2601.22245