Estimates of the Global Masses of Two Distant Galaxies Using a New Type of Astrophysical Mass ``Laboratory''

Astronomy and Astrophysics – Astronomy

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Galaxies: Fundamental Parameters, Galaxies: Quasars: Individual Alphanumeric: 3C 9, Galaxies: Jets, Cosmology: Gravitational Lensing, Polarization

Scientific paper

We have applied the polarization alignment-breaking method of measuring global masses of galaxies (developed by Kronberg et al.) to new radio and deep optical images of the strong jet quasar 3C 9 at z = 2.012. We demonstrate the power of this previously unexploited technique by making estimates of the global mass of two intervening galaxies: at z = 0.25 and z > 1. This paper also explores the possibilities of the method. It shows that for these two intervening galaxy masses, a detectable gravitational signature in the jet polarization alignment is expected for reasonable galaxy masses. We have clearly detected the expected signature, which provides information on the global mass of each galaxy independently of the other. The more distant z > 1 galaxy has a mass of 17 x 1O^11^ M_sun_ with an estimated uncertainty of ~+/-30%. For the z = 0.25 galaxy, we determine a firm upper limit of 20 x 10^11^ M_sun_, which includes the entire mass up to ~100 kpc radius (H_0_ = 75). Future measurements of this type on lensing galaxies up to z ~ 1.8 could place interesting constraints on M and M/L at proper times sufficiently early to constrain galaxy and cosmological evolution.

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