What causes the astigmatism in gravitational lenses?

Details What causes the astigmatism in gravitational lenses? What causes the astigmatism in gravitational lenses?

Jul 1996

adsabs.harvard.edu/cgi-bin/nph-data_query?bibcode=1996hst..prop.6555s&link_type=abstract

HST Proposal ID #6555

Physics

Hst Proposal Id #6555 Cosmology

Scientific paper

Among multiply imaged quasars, those for which the shape of the lensing mass can be measured show surprisingly strong deviations from circular symmetry - astigmatism in the gravitational lens. This astigmatism can be due to the flattening of lensing galaxy itself or due to tides from neighboring galaxies. Likewise it can be due to dark matter interior or exterior to the system's Einstein radius. In either case the implied flattenings and tides are larger than one would naively expect. Before the full potential of lenses can be exploited, the source of this astigmatism must be identified. We propose a direct search for the source of this astigmatism through deep HST imaging of the lensed objects. Such images will be used to measure the shape of the lensing galaxies in detail, and the matter distribution surrounding them. If the astigmatism is due to large scale structure, it should be measurable in the weak lensing {polarization} of nearby faint galaxies. These measurements provide a direct test of the two alternatives.

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