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Abstract Massive stars at cosmological distances can be individually detected during transient microlensing events, when gravitational lensing magnifications may exceedμ ≈ 1000. Nine such sources were identified in JWST NIRCam imaging of a single galaxy at redshiftz= 0.94 known as the “Warhol arc,” which is mirror imaged by the galaxy cluster MACS J0416.1−2403. Here we present the discovery of two coincident and well-characterized microlensing events at the same location followed by a third event observed in a single filter approximately 18 months later. The events can be explained by microlensing of a binary star system consisting of a red supergiant (T ≈ 4000 K) and a B-type (T ≳ 13,000 K) companion star. The timescale of the coincident microlensing events constrains the estimated projected source-plane size to tens of astronomical units. The most likely binary configurations consistent with the observational constraints on the temperature and luminosity of each star are stars with initial masses $M{1}_{\mathrm{init}}=23.6_{-4.3}^{+5.3}$M_⊙and an initial mass ratio between the two stars close to unity. A kinematic model that reproduces the observed light curves in all filters gives a relatively small transverse velocity of ∼50 km s⁻¹. This requires the dominant velocity component of several hundreds of kilometers per second to be roughly parallel to the microcaustic. An alternative possibility would be that the three microlensing events correspond to unrelated stars crossing distinct microcaustics, but this would imply a highly elevated rate of events at their common position, even though no underlying knot is present at the location. 

Abstract The first James Webb Space Telescope (JWST) Near InfraRed Camera imaging in the field of the galaxy cluster PLCK G165.7+67.0 (z= 0.35) uncovered a Type Ia supernova (SN Ia) atz= 1.78, called “SN H0pe.” Three different images of this one SN were detected as a result of strong gravitational lensing, each one traversing a different path in spacetime, thereby inducing a relative delay in the arrival of each image. Follow-up JWST observations of all three SN images enabled photometric and rare spectroscopic measurements of the two relative time delays. Following strict blinding protocols which oversaw a live unblinding and regulated postunblinding changes, these two measured time delays were compared to the predictions of seven independently constructed cluster lens models to measure a value for the Hubble constant,H₀ =  71.8 + 9.2 − 8.1 km s⁻¹Mpc⁻¹. The range of admissibleH₀values predicted across the lens models limits further precision, reflecting the well-known degeneracies between lens model constraints and time delays. It has long been theorized that a way forward is to leverage a standard candle, but this has not been realized until now. For the first time, the lens models are evaluated by their agreement with the SN absolute magnifications, breaking degeneracies and producing our best estimate,H₀ =  ${75.7}_{-5.5}^{+8.1}$km s⁻¹Mpc⁻¹. This is the first precise measurement ofH₀from a multiply imaged SN Ia and only the second from any multiply imaged SN. 

Abstract We present 21 transients from our three-epoch, four-band NIRCam observations covering 14.16 arcmin²in the Spitzer IRAC Dark Field (IDF), taken by the JWST Prime Extragalactic Areas for Reionization and Lensing Science program with a time cadence of ∼6 months. A separate Hubble Space Telescope program provided Advanced Camera for Surveys optical imaging contemporaneous with the second and third epochs of the NIRCam observations. The NIRSpec spectroscopy on three transients confirmed a Type Ia supernova atz= 1.63 and the host galaxies of the other two atz= 2.64 and 1.90, respectively. Combining these with the photometric redshifts (z_ph) of the host galaxies in the rest of the sample, we find that the transients are in either a “mid-z” group atz > 1.6 withM_V ≲ − 16.0 mag or a “low-z” group atz < 0.4 withM_H ≳ − 14.0 mag. The mid-ztransients are consistent with supernovae. In contrast, the low-ztransients’ luminosities fall in the range of the so-called “gap transients” between supernovae and novae. However, this latter conclusion is only tentative due to possible catastrophic failures inz_phthat could bias them to low-z. Conversely, if they are indeed atz < 0.4, it would be worth studying similar transients in the future. Our work further demonstrates the power of NIRCam in transient science and also shows that it would be more fruitful to carry out a long-term monitoring program with more passbands, a higher cadence, and prompt follow-up spectroscopy. Being in the continuous viewing zone of the JWST, the IDF is an ideal field for this purpose. 

Abstract SN H0pe is a triply imaged supernova (SN) at redshiftz= 1.78 discovered using the James Webb Space Telescope. In order to classify the SN spectroscopically and measure the relative time delays of its three images (designated A, B, and C), we acquired NIRSpec follow-up spectroscopy spanning 0.6–5μm. From the high signal-to-noise spectra of the two bright images B and C, we first classify the SN, whose spectra most closely match those of SN 1994D and SN 2013dy, as a Type Ia SN. We identify prominent blueshifted absorption features corresponding to Siiiλ6355 and CaiiHλ3970 and Kλ3935. We next measure the absolute phases of the three images from our spectra, which allow us to constrain their relative time delays. The absolute phases of the three images, determined by fitting the three spectra to Hsiao07 SN templates, are ${6.5}_{-1.8}^{+2.4}$days, ${24.3}_{-3.9}^{+3.9}$days, and ${50.6}_{-15.3}^{+16.1}$days for the brightest to faintest images. These correspond to relative time delays between Image A and Image B and between Image B and Image C of $-{122.3}_{-43.8}^{+43.7}$days and ${49.3}_{-14.7}^{+12.2}$days, respectively. The SALT3-NIR model yields phases and time delays consistent with these values. After unblinding, we additionally explored the effect of using Hsiao07 template spectra for simulations through 80 days instead of 60 days past maximum, and found a small (11.5 and 1.0 days, respectively) yet statistically insignificant (∼0.25σand ∼0.1σ) effect on the inferred image delays. 

Strong gravitational magnification enables the detection of faint background sources and allows researchers to resolve their internal structures and even identify individual stars in distant galaxies. Highly magnified individual stars are useful in various applications, including studies of stellar populations in distant galaxies and constraining dark matter structures in the lensing plane. However, these applications have been hampered by the small number of individual stars observed, as typically one or a few stars are identified from each distant galaxy. Here, we report the discovery of more than 40 microlensed stars in a single galaxy behind Abell 370 at redshift of 0.725 (dubbed ‘the Dragon arc’) when the Universe was half of its current age, using James Webb Space Telescope observations with the time-domain technique. These events were found near the expected lensing critical curves, suggesting that these are magnified stars that appear as transients from intracluster stellar microlenses. Through multi-wavelength photometry, we constrained their stellar types and found that many of them are consistent with red giants or supergiants magnified by factors of hundreds. This finding reveals a high occurrence of microlensing events in the Dragon arc and demonstrates that time-domain observations by the James Webb Space Telescope could lead to the possibility of conducting statistical studies of high-redshift stars. 

Abstract New JWST/NIRCam wide-field slitless spectroscopy provides redshifts for fourz> 8 galaxies located behind the lensing cluster MACS J0416.1−2403. Two of them, “Y1” and “JD,” have previously reported spectroscopic redshifts based on Atacama Large Millimeter/submillimeter Array measurements of [Oiii] 88μm and/or [Cii] 157.7μm lines. Y1 is a merging system of three components, and the existing redshiftz= 8.31 is confirmed. However, JD is atz= 8.34 instead of the previously claimedz= 9.28. JD’s close companion, “JD-N,” which was a previously discoveredz> 8 candidate, is now identified at the same redshift as JD. JD and JD-N form an interacting pair. A new candidate atz> 8, “f090d_018,” is also confirmed and is atz= 8.49. These four objects are likely part of an overdensity that signposts a large structure extending ∼165 kpc in projected distance and ∼48.7 Mpc in radial distance. They are magnified by less than 1 mag and have an intrinsicM_UVranging from −19.57 to −20.83 mag. Their spectral energy distributions show that the galaxies are all very young with ages ∼ 4–18 Myr and stellar masses of about 10^7–8M_⊙. These infant galaxies have very different star formation rates ranging from a few to over a hundred solar masses per year, but only two of them (JD and f090d_018) have blue rest-frame UV slopesβ< −2.0 indicative of a high Lyman-continuum photon escape fraction that could contribute significantly to the cosmic hydrogen-reionizing background. Interestingly, these two galaxies are the least massive and least active ones among the four. The other two systems have much flatter UV slopes largely because of their high dust extinction (A_V= 0.9–1.0 mag). Their much lower indicated escape fractions show that even very young, actively star-forming galaxies can have a negligible contribution to reionization when they quickly form dust throughout their bodies. 

Abstract The Prime Extragalactic Areas for Reionization and Lensing Science, a James Webb Space Telescope (JWST) GTO program, obtained a set of unique NIRCam observations that have enabled us to significantly improve the default photometric calibration across both NIRCam modules. The observations consisted of three epochs of 4-band (F150W, F200W, F356W, and F444W) NIRCam imaging in the Spitzer IRAC Dark Field (IDF). The three epochs were six months apart and spanned the full duration of Cycle 1. As the IDF is in the JWST continuous viewing zone, we were able to design the observations such that the two modules of NIRCam, modules A and B, were flipped by 180° and completely overlapped each other’s footprints in alternate epochs. We were therefore able to directly compare the photometry of the same objects observed with different modules and detectors, and we found significant photometric residuals up to ∼0.05 mag in some detectors and filters, for the default version of the calibration files that we used (jwst_1039.pmap). Moreover, there are multiplicative gradients present in the data obtained in the two long-wavelength bands. The problem is less severe in the data reduced using the latest pmap (jwst_1130.pmapas of 2023 September), but it is still present, and is non-negligible. We provide a recipe to correct for this systematic effect to bring the two modules onto a more consistent calibration, to a photometric precision better than ∼0.02 mag. 

The Reionization Cluster Survey imaged 41 galaxy clusters with the Hubble Space Telescope (HST), in order to detect lensed and high-redshift galaxies. Each cluster was imaged to about 26.5 AB mag in three optical and four near-infrared bands, taken in two distinct visits separated by varying time intervals. We make use of the multiple near-infrared epochs to search for transient sources in the cluster fields, with the primary motivation of building statistics for bright caustic crossing events in gravitational arcs. Over the whole sample, we do not find any significant (≳5σ) caustic crossing events, in line with expectations from semi-analytical calculations but in contrast to what may be naively expected from previous detections of some bright events or from deeper transient surveys that do find high rates of such events. Nevertheless, we find six prominent supernova (SN) candidates over the 41 fields: three of them were previously reported and three are new ones reported here for the first time. Out of the six candidates, four are likely core-collapse SNe – three in cluster galaxies, and among which only one was known before, and one slightly behind the cluster at z ∼ 0.6–0.7. The other two are likely Ia – both of them previously known, one probably in a cluster galaxy and one behind it at z ≃ 2. Our study supplies empirical bounds for the rate of caustic crossing events in galaxy cluster fields to typical HST magnitudes, and lays the groundwork for a future SN rate study. 

Abstract We present near-infrared (NIR) ground-basedY,J,H, andKimaging obtained in the James Webb Space Telescope (JWST) North Ecliptic Pole Time Domain Field (NEP TDF) using the MMT-Magellan Infrared Imager and Spectrometer on the MMT. These new observations cover a field of approximately 230 arcmin²inY,H, andK,and 313 arcmin²inJ. Using Monte Carlo simulations, we estimate a 1σdepth relative to the background sky of (Y, J, H, K) = (23.80, 23.53, 23.13, 23.28) in AB magnitudes for point sources at a 95% completeness level. These observations are part of the ground-based effort to characterize this region of the sky, supplementing space-based data obtained with Chandra, NuSTAR, XMM, AstroSat, Hubble Space Telescope, and JWST. This paper describes the observations and reduction of the NIR imaging and combines these NIR data with archival imaging in the visible, obtained with the Subaru Hyper-Suprime-Cam, to produce a merged catalog of 57,501 sources. The new observations reported here, plus the corresponding multiwavelength catalog, will provide a baseline for time-domain studies of bright sources in the NEP TDF. 

Abstract We present a new parametric lens model for the G165.7+67.0 galaxy cluster, which was discovered with Planck through its bright submillimeter flux, originating from a pair of extraordinary dusty star-forming galaxies (DSFGs) atz≈ 2.2. Using JWST and interferometric mm/radio observations, we characterize the intrinsic physical properties of the DSFGs, which are separated by only ∼1″ (8 kpc) and a velocity difference ΔV≲ 600 km s⁻¹in the source plane, and thus are likely undergoing a major merger. Boasting intrinsic star formation rates SFR_IR= 320 ± 70 and 400 ± 80M_⊙yr⁻¹, stellar masses of $\log \left[M_{\star }/M_{\odot }\right]=10.2\pm 0.1$and 10.3 ± 0.1, and dust attenuations ofA_V= 1.5 ± 0.3 and 1.2 ± 0.3, they are remarkably similar objects. We perform spatially resolved pixel-by-pixel spectral energy distribution (SED) fitting using rest-frame near-UV to near-IR imaging from JWST/NIRCam for both galaxies, resolving some stellar structures down to 100 pc scales. Based on their resolved specific star formation rates (SFRs) andUVJcolors, both DSFGs are experiencing significant galaxy-scale star formation events. If they are indeed interacting gravitationally, this strong starburst could be the hallmark of gas that has been disrupted by an initial close passage. In contrast, the host galaxy of SN H0pe has a much lower SFR than the DSFGs, and we present evidence for the onset of inside-out quenching and large column densities of dust even in regions of low specific SFR. Based on the intrinsic SFRs of the DSFGs inferred from UV through far-infrared SED modeling, this pair of objects alone is predicted to yield an observable 1.1 ± 0.2 core-collapse supernovae per year, making this cluster field ripe for continued monitoring.