Shape, colour, and distance in weak gravitational flexion
Abstract
Canonically, elliptical galaxies might be expected to have a perfect rotational symmetry, making them ideal targets for flexion studies - however, this assumption has not been tested. We have undertaken an analysis of low- and high-redshift galaxy catalogues of known morphological type with a new gravitational lensing code, Lenser. Using colour measurements in the u - r bands and fit Sérsic index values, objects with characteristics consistent with early-type galaxies are found to have a lower intrinsic scatter in flexion signal than late-type galaxies. We find this measured flexion noise can be reduced by more than a factor of two at both low and high redshift.
- Publication:
-
Monthly Notices of the Royal Astronomical Society
- Pub Date:
- March 2021
- DOI:
- 10.1093/mnras/staa3928
- arXiv:
- arXiv:2006.03506
- Bibcode:
- 2021MNRAS.501.4103F
- Keywords:
-
- gravitational lensing: weak;
- galaxies: general;
- Astrophysics - Astrophysics of Galaxies
- E-Print:
- 7 pages, 13 figures, submitted to MNRAS