COSMOGRAIL: the COSmological MOnitoring of GRAvItational Lenses - VIII. Deconvolution of high resolution near-IR images and simple mass models for 7 gravitationally lensed quasars
We attempt to place very accurate positional constraints on seven gravitationally lensed quasars currently being monitored by the COSMOGRAIL collaboration, and shape parameters for the light distribution of the lensing galaxy. We attempt to determine simple mass models that reproduce the observed configuration and predict time delays. We finally test, for the quads, whether there is evidence of astrometric perturbations produced by substructures in the lensing galaxy, which may preclude a good fit with the simple models.  We apply the iterative MCS deconvolution method to near-IR HST archival data of seven gravitationally lensed quasars. This deconvolution method allows us to differentiate the contributions of the point sources from those of extended structures such as Einstein rings. This method leads to an accuracy of 1–2 mas in the relative positions of the sources and lens. The limiting factor of the method is the uncertainty in the instrumental geometric distortions. We then compute mass models of the lensing galaxy using state-of-the-art modeling techniques.  We determine the relative positions of the lensed images and lens shape parameters of seven lensed quasars: HE 0047-1756, RX J1131-1231, SDSS J1138+0314, SDSS J1155+6346, SDSS J1226-0006, WFI J2026-4536, and HS 2209+1914. The lensed image positions are derived with 1–2 mas accuracy. Isothermal and de Vaucouleurs mass models are calculated for the whole sample. The effect of the lens environment on the lens mass models is taken into account with a shear term. Doubly imaged quasars are equally well fitted by each of these models. A large amount of shear is necessary to reproduce SDSS J1155+6346 and SDSS J1226-006. In the latter case, we identify a nearby galaxy as the dominant source of shear. The quadruply imaged quasar SDSS J1138+0314 is reproduced well by simple lens models, which is not the case for the two other quads, RX J1131-1231 and WFI J2026-4536. This might be the signature of astrometric perturbations caused by massive substructures in the galaxy, which are unaccounted for by the models. Other possible explanations are also presented.

title: Transit timing analysis of CoRoT-1b
abstract: CoRoT, the pioneer space-based transit search, steadily provides thousands of high-precision light curves with continuous time sampling over periods of up to 5 months. The transits of a planet perturbed by an additional object are not strictly periodic. By studying the transit timing variations (TTVs), additional objects can be detected in the system.  A transit timing analysis of CoRoT-1b is carried out to constrain the existence of additional planets in the system.  We used data obtained by an improved version of the CoRoT data pipeline (version 2.0). Individual transits were fitted to determine the mid-transit times, and we analyzed the derived O-C diagram. N-body integrations were used to place limits on secondary planets.  No periodic timing variations with a period shorter than the observational window (55 days) are found. The presence of an Earth-mass Trojan is not likely. A planet of mass greater than ~1 Earth mass can be ruled out by the present data if the object is in a 2:1 (exterior) mean motion resonance with CoRoT-1b. Considering initially circular orbits: (i) super-Earths (less than 10 Earth-masses) are excluded for periods less than about 3.5 days; (ii) Saturn-like planets can be ruled out for periods less than about 5 days; (iii) Jupiter-like planets should have a minimum orbital period of about 6.5 days.

title: COSMOGRAIL: the COSmological MOnitoring of GRAvItational Lenses V. The time delay in SDSS J1650+4251 from two seasons of monitoring
abstract: Our aim is to measure the time delay between the two gravitationally lensed images of the z qso  = 1.547 quasar SDSS J1650+4251, in order to estimate the Hubble constant  H 0 .  Our measurement is based on R -band light curves with 57 epochs obtained at Maidanak Observatory, in Uzbekistan, from May 2004 to September 2005. The photometry is performed using simultaneous deconvolution of the data, which provides the individual light curves of the otherwise blended quasar images. The time delay is determined from the light curves using two very different numerical techniques, i.e., polynomial fitting and direct cross-correlation. The time delay is converted into H 0  following analytical modeling of the potential well.  Our best estimate of the time delay is $\Delta t = 49.5$  ± 1.9 days, i.e., we reach a 3.8% accuracy. The R -band flux ratio between the quasar images, corrected for the time delay and for slow microlensing, is $F_{\rm A}/F_{\rm B} = 6.2$  ± 5%.  The accuracy reached on the time delay allows us to discriminate well between families of lens models. As for most other multiply imaged quasars, only models of the lensing galaxy that have a de Vaucouleurs mass profile plus external shear give a Hubble constant compatible with the current most popular value ( H 0  = 72  ± 8 km s -1  Mpc -1 ). A more realistic singular isothermal sphere model plus external shear gives H 0  = 51.7$^{+4.0}_{-3.0}$ km s -1  Mpc -1 .

title: Herschel imaging and spectroscopy of the nebula around the luminous blue variable star WRAY 15-751
abstract: We have obtained far-infrared Herschel-PACS imaging and spectroscopic observations of the nebular environment of the luminous blue variable (LBV) WRAY 15-751. The far-infrared images clearly show that the main, dusty nebula is a shell of radius 0.5 pc and width 0.35 pc extending outside the Hα nebula. Furthermore, these images reveal a second, bigger and fainter dust nebula that is observed for the first time. Both nebulae lie in an empty cavity, very likely the remnant of the O-star wind bubble formed when the star was on the main sequence. The kinematic ages of the nebulae are calculated to be about 2 × 10 4 and 8 × 10 4 years, and we –– –– –– –– –– –– –– –– –– –– –– –– –– –– –– –– –– – –– –– –– ––

title: Deconvolution of HST images of the Cloverleaf gravitational lens - Detection of the lensing galaxy and a partial Einstein ring
abstract: Archival HST/NICMOS-2 images of the Cloverleaf gravitational lens (H1413+117), a quadruply-imaged quasar, were analysed with a new method derived from the MCS deconvolution algorithm (Magain et al. 1998). This method is based on an iterative process which simultaneously allows us to determine the Point Spread Function (PSF) and to perform a deconvolution of images containing several point sources plus extended structures. As such, it is well-adapted to the processing of gravitational lens images, especially in the case of multiply-imaged quasars. Two sets of data were analysed: the first one, which was obtained through the F160W  filter in 1997, basically corresponds to a continuum image, while the second one, obtained through the narrower F180M  filter in 2003, is centered around the forbidden [Oiii] emission lines at the source redshift, thus probing the narrow-line region of the quasar. The deconvolution gives astrometric and photometric measurements in both filters and reveals the primary lensing galaxy as well as a partial Einstein ring. The high accuracy of the results is particularly important in order to model the lensing system and to reconstruct the source undergoing the strong lensing. The reliability of the method is checked on a synthetic image similar to H1413+117.

title: High precision determination of the atmospheric parameters and abundances of the COROT main targets
abstract: One of the main goals of the COROT mission is to get precise photometric observations of selected bright stars in order to allow the modelling of their interior through asteroseismology. However, in order to interpret the asteroseismological data, the effective temperature, surface gravity, and chemical composition of the stars must be known with sufficient accuracy.  To carry out this task, we have developed a spectroscopic method called APASS (Atmospheric Parameters and Abundances from Synthetic Spectra) which allows precise analysis of stars with a moderate to high rotational velocity, which is the case for most primary COROT targets.  Our method is based on synthetic spectra in which individual lines are replaced by analysis units (isolated lines or line blends, depending on the crowding of the spectral region and on the rotational broadening). It works differentially with respect to the Sun and allows the atmospheric parameters and chemical abundances to be determined by considering analysis units with different sensitivities to these various parameters.  Using high signal-to-noise spectra and the APASS method, we determined the atmospheric parameters and chemical abundances of 13 primary COROT targets. Our results agree well with those obtained by Bruntt using his software VWA and with those obtained with the software TEMPLOGG. However, in both cases, our error bars are significantly smaller than those of other methods. Our effective temperatures are also in excellent agreement with those obtained with the IR photometry method. For five stars with relatively low rotational velocity, we also performed an analysis with a classical equivalent–width method to test agreement with APASS results. We show that equivalent–width measurements by Gaussian or Voigt profile–fitting are sensitive to the rotational broadening, leading to systematic errors whenever the projected rotation velocity is non–negligible. The APASS method appears superior in all cases and should thus be preferred.

title: Detection of SUSY Signals in Stau Neutralino Co‐annihilation Region at the LHC
abstract: We study the prospects of detecting the signal in the stau neutralino (τ1−χ10) co‐annihilation region at the LHC using tau (τ) leptons. The co‐annihilation signal is characterized by the τ1 and χ10 mass difference (ΔM) to be 5–15 GeV to be consistent with the WMAP measurement of the cold dark matter relic density as well as all other experimental bounds within the minimal supergravity model. Focusing on τ’s from χ20 → ττ → ττχ10 decays in g and q production, we consider inclusive E/T+jet+3 τ production, with two τ’s above a high ET threshold and a third τ above a lower threshold. Two observables, the number of opposite‐signed τ pairs minus the number of like‐signed τ pairs and the peak position of the di‐tau invariant mass distribution, allow for the simultaneous determination of ΔM and Mg. For ΔM = 9 GeV and Mg = 850 GeV with 30 fb−1 of data, we can measure ΔM to 15% and Mg to 6%.

title: PHASE MIXING IN MOND
abstract: Dissipationless collapses in Modified Newtonian Dynamics (MOND) have been studied by using our MOND particle-mesh N-body code, finding that the projected density profiles of the final virialized systems are well described by Sersic profiles with index m<4 (down to m~2 for a deep-MOND collapse). The simulations provided also strong evidence that phase mixing is much less effective in MOND than in Newtonian gravity. Here we describe "ad hoc" numerical simulations with the force angular components frozen to zero, thus producing radial collapses. Our previous findings are confirmed, indicating that possible differences in radial orbit instability under Newtonian and MOND gravity are not relevant in the present context.