Year: 2026
Type: preprint
Abstract: The Super-Pressure Balloon-borne Imaging Telescope (SuperBIT) completed its science flight in April 2023, obtaining imaging data for 30 galaxy clusters. In this work, we present the first weak-lensing convergence maps from these observations, using six clusters selected from the 30 targets. We construct background-galaxy catalogs using SuperBIT's three-band photometry and a color-color-based method to separate foreground and background galaxies. Using the calibrated shapes of the selected background galaxies, we reconstruct the weak-lensing convergence field through Kaiser--Squires inversion. We compare the convergence signal-to-noise maps for the six clusters with independent tracers of the mass distribution, namely, red-sequence cluster-member number density maps. These results demonstrate the first successful reconstruction of a weak-lensing signal using imaging data from a sub-orbital astronomical observatory.
Source: arXiv (Cornell University)
Authors: Saha, Sayan, Amit, Maya, McCleary, Jacqueline E., Vassilakis, Georgios N., Paracha, Emaad, Cerini, Giulia, Everett, Spencer W., Ohashi, Leila, Huff, Eric M., Leroy, Gavin, Fung, Leo W. H., Massey, Richard, Benton, Steven J., Jones, William C., Luu, Thuy Vy T., Gill, Ajay S., Shaaban, Mohamed M., Voyer, Philippe, Field, Adam, Aoua, Adam, Brown, Anthony M., Clark, Paul, Craigie, Matthew, Damaren, Christopher J., Eifler, Tim, Harvey, David, Habjan, Eric, Hartley, John W., Holder, Bradley, Jauzac, Mathilde, Lagattuta, David, Leung, Jason S. -Y., Li, Lun, Nagy, Johanna M., Netterfield, C. Barth, Redmond, Susan F., Rhodes, Jason D., Robertson, Andrew, Romualdez, L. Javier, Schmoll, Jürgen, Sirks, Ellen, Tam, Sut Ieng, Tarafdar, Karuna, Vitorelli, André Z., Zenteno, Alfredo
Institutions: Northeastern University, New York University, University of Toronto, California Institute of Technology, Jet Propulsion Laboratory, Princeton University, Herzberg Institute of Astrophysics, National Research Council Canada, Worcester Polytechnic Institute, Durham University, University of Arizona, École Polytechnique Fédérale de Lausanne, Universidad Autónoma de Madrid, National Yang Ming Chiao Tung University, Cerro Tololo Inter-American Observatory
Language: English
Subfield: Astronomy and Astrophysics
Field: Physics and Astronomy
Domain: Physical Sciences
Open Access status: green
Funders: National Aeronautics and Space Administration, California Institute of Technology, Canadian Institute for Advanced Research, Centre National d’Etudes Spatiales, Jet Propulsion Laboratory, Canadian Space Agency, Directorate for STEM Education, Natural Sciences and Engineering Research Council of Canada, Science and Technology Facilities Council
OpenAlex ID: W7220935201