Hubble frontier field free-form mass mapping of the massive multiple-merging cluster MACSJ0717.5+3745

Abstract

We examine the latest data on the clusterMACSJ0717.5+3745 from the Hubble Frontier Fields campaign. The critically lensed area is the largest known of any lens and very irregular making it a challenge for parametric modelling. Using our free-form method we obtain an accurate solution, identify here many new sets of multiple images, doubling the number of constraints and improving the reconstruction of the dark matter distribution. Our reconstructed mass map shows several distinct central substructures with shallow density profiles, clarifying earlier work and defining well the relation between the dark matter distribution and the luminous and X-ray peaks within the critically lensed region. Using our free-form method, we are able to meaningfully subtract the mass contribution from cluster members to the deflection field to trace the smoothly distributed cluster dark matter distribution. We find four distinct concentrations, three of which are coincident with the luminous matter. The fourth peak has a significant offset from both the closest luminous and X-ray peaks. These findings, together with dynamical data from the motions of galaxies and gas will be important for uncovering the potentially important implications of this extremely massive and intriguing system.