Strong Gravitational Lensing with the James Webb Space Telescope

arXiv:2605.15189 · astro-ph.CO, astro-ph.GA · Submitted 2026-05-14 · Read on arXiv

astro-ph.CO, astro-ph.GA

Submitted: 2026-05-14

Updated: 2026-09-01

Comments: Invited review for \emph{Contemporary Physics}. Accepted for publication. 38 pages including references; V1: 13 figures; some adapted from the literature. V2: Several typos, errors, and other minor text issues corrected. Now includes 14 figures (a figure from V1 was split in two). V3: Some other minor errors and text issues fixed. Paper has now been published

DOI: 10.1080/00107514.2026.2677410

Project page: https://vela.astro.uliege.be/themes/extragal/gravlens/bibdat/engl/DE/didac.html

License: http://arxiv.org/licenses/nonexclusive-distrib/1.0/

Terminology

• Gravitational Lensing — 31× in this paper · explained in 2 episodes
• AGN — 20× in this paper · explained in 1 episode
• Weak Lensing — 9× in this paper · explained in 2 episodes
• General Relativity — 6× in this paper
• James Webb Space Telescope — 6× in this paper
• Little Red Dots — 6× in this paper · explained in 2 episodes
• Microlensing — 6× in this paper · explained in 2 episodes
• Abundance — 4× in this paper · explained in 1 episode
• Trace — 3× in this paper · explained in 2 episodes
• Accuracy — 2× in this paper · explained in 1 episode
• Active Galactic Nucleus — 2× in this paper
• Core — 2× in this paper · explained in 2 episodes
• Metallicity — 2× in this paper · explained in 3 episodes
• Adam — 1× in this paper · explained in 2 episodes
• Alignment — 1× in this paper · explained in 1 episode
• Aperture — 1× in this paper · explained in 1 episode
• Benchmark — 1× in this paper · explained in 2 episodes
• Fidelity — 1× in this paper · explained in 2 episodes
• Hubble Tension — 1× in this paper · explained in 9 episodes
• Population Synthesis — 1× in this paper · explained in 2 episodes
• Robustness — 1× in this paper · explained in 5 episodes
• Velocity Dispersion — 1× in this paper · explained in 2 episodes
• Verification — 1× in this paper · explained in 2 episodes

Sources

• JWST's GLIMPSE: an overview of the deepest probe of early galaxy formation and cosmic reionization
• VENUS: A Strongly Lensed Clumpy Galaxy at $z\sim11-12$ behind the Galaxy Cluster MACS J0257.1-2325
• JWST Advanced Deep Extragalactic Survey (JADES) Data Release 5: Photometrically Selected Galaxy Candidates at z > 8
• Little Red Dots host Black Hole Stars: A unified family of gas-reddened AGN revealed by JWST/NIRSpec spectroscopy
• A direct black hole mass measurement in a Little Red Dot at the Epoch of Reionization
• A stellar dynamical mass measurement of an inactive black hole at redshift 2
• Little red dot variability over a century reveals black hole envelope via a giant Einstein cross
• Connecting the Dots: UV-Bright Companions of Little Red Dots as Lyman-Werner Sources Enabling Direct Collapse Black Hole Formation
• VENUS: When Red meets Blue -- A multiply imaged Little Red Dot with an apparent blue companion behind the galaxy cluster Abell 383
• VENUS: Two Faint Little Red Dots Separated by $\sim70\,\mathrm{pc}$ Hidden in a Single Lensed Galaxy at $z\sim7$
• VENUS: Strong-lensing model of MACS J1931.8-2635 -- revealing the farthest multiply imaged supernova
• A first GLIMPSE into star clusters populations across cosmic time
• Spatially Resolved Physical Properties of Young Star Clusters and Star-forming Clumps in the Brightest z>6 Galaxy, the Strongly Lensed Cosmic Spear at z=6.2
• SN 2022riv in RX J2129: Discovery, Spectroscopic Classification, and Microlensing of a Strongly Lensed Type Ia Supernova from JWST and HST Observations
• A spectroscopically confirmed, strongly lensed, metal-poor Type II supernova at z = 5.13
• A tight relation between the distribution of globular clusters and dark matter in AS1063
• SAPPHIRES: A Galaxy Over-Density in the Heart of Cosmic Reionization at $z=8.47$

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