Abstract
We present the first results of the SOAR Gravitational Arc Survey (SOGRAS). The survey imaged 47 clusters in two redshift intervals centered at z=0.27 and z=0.55, targeting the richest clusters in each interval. Images were obtained in the g', r' and i' bands with a median seeing of 0.83, 0.76 and 0.71 arcsec, respectively, in these filters. Most of the survey clusters are located within the Sloan Digital Sky Survey (SDSS) Stripe-82 region and all of them are in the SDSS footprint. We present the first results of the survey, including the 6 best strong lensing systems, photometric and morphometric catalogs of the galaxy sample, and cross matches of the clusters and galaxies with complementary samples (spectroscopic redshifts, photometry in several bands, X-ray and Sunyaev Zel'dovich clusters, etc.), exploiting the synergy with other surveys in Stripe-82. We apply several methods to characterize the gravitational arc candidates, including the Mediatrix method (Bom et al. 2012) and ArcFitting (Furlanetto et al. 2012), and for the subtraction of galaxy cluster light. Finally, we apply strong lensing inversion techniques to the best systems, providing constraints on their mass distribution. The analyses of a spectral follow-up with Gemini and the derived dynamical masses are presented in a poster submitted to this same meeting (Cibirka et al.). Deeper follow-up images with Gemini strengthen the case for the strong lensing nature of the candidates found in this survey.
