Exploring the Masses of the Two Most Distant Gravitational Lensing Clusters at Cosmic Noon

Abstract Observations over the past decade have shown that galaxy clusters undergo the most transformative changes during the z = 1.5–2 epoch. However, challenges such as low lensing efficiency, high shape measurement uncertainty, and a scarcity of background galaxies have prevented us from characterizing their masses with weak gravitational lensing (WL) beyond redshift z ∼ 1.75. In this paper, we report the successful WL detection of JKCS 041 and XLSSC 122 at z = 1.80 and z = 1.98, respectively, utilizing deep infrared imaging data from the Hubble Space Telescope with careful removal of instrumental effects. These are the most distant clusters ever measured through WL. The mass peaks of JKCS 041 and XLSSC 122, which coincide with the X-ray peak positions of the respective clusters, are detected at the ∼3.7 σ and ∼3.2 σ levels, respectively. Assuming a single spherical Navarro–Frenk–White profile, we estimate that JKCS 041 has a virial mass of M 200 c = (5.4 ± 1.6) × 10 14 M ⊙ , while the mass of XLSSC 122 is determined to be M 200 c = (3.3 ± 1.8) × 10 14 M ⊙ . These WL masses are consistent with the estimates inferred from their X-ray observations. We conclude that although the probability of finding such massive clusters at their redshifts is certainly low, their masses can still be accommodated within the current ΛCDM paradigm.