COOL-LAMPS. I. An Extraordinarily Bright Lensed Galaxy at Redshift 5.04*

Abstract

We report the discovery of COOL J1241+2219, a strongly lensed galaxy at redshift z  = 5.043 ± 0.002 with observed magnitude z AB  = 20.47, lensed by a moderate-mass galaxy cluster at z  = 1.001 ± 0.001. COOL J1241+2219  is the brightest lensed galaxy currently known at optical and near-infrared wavelengths at z  ≳ 5; it is ∼5 times brighter than the prior record-holder lensed galaxy, and several magnitudes brighter than the brightest unlensed galaxies known at these redshifts. It was discovered as part of COOL-LAMPS, a collaboration initiated to find strongly lensed systems in recent public optical imaging data. We characterize the lensed galaxy, as well as the central galaxy of the lensing cluster using ground-based grizJH imaging and optical spectroscopy. We report model-based magnitudes, and derive stellar masses, dust content, metallicity, and star-formation rates via stellar-population synthesis modeling. Our lens mass modeling, based on ground-based imaging, implies a median source magnification of ∼30, which puts the stellar mass and star-formation rate (in the youngest age bin, closest to the epoch of observation) at log M *  =  10.11 − 0.26 + 0.21 and SFR =  27 − 9 + 13 M ⊙ yr −1 , respectively. We constrain a star-formation history for COOL J1241+2219  consistent with constant star formation across ∼1 Gyr of cosmic time, and that places this galaxy on the high-mass end of the star-forming main sequence. COOL J1241+2219  is two to four times more luminous than a galaxy with the characteristic UV luminosity at these redshifts. The UV continuum slope β  = −2.2 ± 0.2 places this galaxy on the blue side of the observed distribution of galaxies at z  = 5, although the lack of Ly α emission indicates dust sufficient to suppress this emission.