JWST Identifies Over 100 Magnified Stars at Redshift z ≈ 0.725

This paper presents the first statistical study of over 100 magnified stellar events at redshift z ≈ 0.725, observed with the James Webb Space Telescope (JWST). The high magnification is achieved through microlensing by intracluster stars near the critical curves of the massive galaxy cluster Abell 370, specifically targeting the lensed galaxy known as the Dragon. The multi-epoch photometric campaigns, spanning three cycles of JWST observations (2022-2024), enabled the detection of these transient events. The large sample size allows for statistical analyses that were previously impossible with only a few dozen known high-redshift stars. The researchers constrain the high-end slope of the stellar luminosity function, finding β=2.18^{+0.20}_{-0.30}. Alternatively, assuming a fixed slope, they constrain the microlens surface mass density. The study also examines the parity asymmetry of the detected caustic-crossing events, a proposed probe of wave dark matter, and finds that it remains present. Furthermore, the events are used to trace the regions of highest magnification, offering an alternative way to map the system's critical curves. The relatively low redshift of the Dragon (z≈0.725) facilitates the detection of its most massive stars. The findings have significant implications for understanding stellar populations at early cosmic times, probing the nature of dark matter, revealing small-scale structure in the cluster, and improving lens models. The JWST's capabilities are crucial for this type of research, enabling the detection of faint, highly magnified objects that would be impossible to observe with ground-based telescopes.

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