Supernovae in Luminous Arcs
Abstract
The giant luminous arcs seem to be images of galaxies distorted by foreground clusters acting as gravitational lenses, with galaxies close to the cusps of gravitational lens caustic. The part of a galaxy located inside a cusp has three images of itself within an arc. The arcs are very blue, so the galaxies may be in a stage of active star formation with supernovae exploding every few years. If a supernova goes off inside a cusp it will be observed thrice, at three positions. The apparent magnitudes of the supernovae images may be M_R_ ~20-23. The arrival time differences between the images can be as short as a few weeks or even days, whereas for ordinary lenses on a cluster scale the differences can be decades to centuries. We predict simple relations between the ratios of the arrival time differences, magnifications, and image separations.
- Publication:
-
The Astrophysical Journal
- Pub Date:
- December 1988
- DOI:
- 10.1086/185328
- Bibcode:
- 1988ApJ...335L...9K
- Keywords:
-
- Caustics (Optics);
- Galactic Clusters;
- Gravitational Lenses;
- Supernovae;
- Geometrical Optics;
- Magnitude;
- Star Formation Rate;
- Starburst Galaxies;
- Temporal Distribution;
- Astrophysics;
- GALAXIES: GENERAL;
- GRAVITATIONAL LENSES;
- STARS: SUPERNOVAE