Unlensing multiple arcs in 0024+1654: Reconstruction of the source image

A unique reconstruction of the image of a high-redshift source galaxy responsible for multiple long arcs in the z = 0.4 cluster 0024+1654 is obtained by inverse lensing. Deep B- and I-band imaging with the Hubble Space Telescope enables high resolution of the arcs due to strong gravitational lensing of the background source. The gravitational lens in the foreground cluster is thus used to obtain a magnified view of the distant source. Four strongly lensed images of the source lead to a unique reconstruction. Each of the long arcs, when unlensed, leads to the same reconstructed source image, exhibiting a beaded, ringlike morphology. The U luminosity of the ring alone is equivalent to that of a normal galaxy. This is likely a galaxy in formation.