COSMOGRAIL: the COSmological MOnitoring of GRAvItational Lenses V. The time delay in SDSS J1650+4251 from two seasons of monitoring

Aims: To measure the time delay between the two gravitationally lensed images of the z = 1.547 quasar SDSS J1650+4251, in order to estimate the Hubble constant H_0. Methods: Our measurement is based on R-band light curves with 57 epochs obtained at Maidanak Observatory, in Uzbekistan, from May 2004 to September 2005. The photometry is performed using simultaneous deconvolution of the data, which provides the individual light curves of the otherwise blended quasar images. The time delay is determined from the light curves using two very different numerical techniques, i.e., polynomial fitting and direct cross-correlation. The time delay is converted into H_0 following analytical modeling of the potential well. Results: Our best estimate of the time delay is Dt = 49.5 +/- 1.9 days, i.e., we reach a 3.8% accuracy. The R-band flux ratio between the quasar images, corrected for the time delay and for slow microlensing, is F_A /F_B = 6.2. Conclusions: The accuracy reached on the time delay allows to discriminate well between families of lens models. As for most other multiply imaged quasars, only models of the lensing galaxy that have a constant mass-to-light ratio give a Hubble constant compatible with the current most popular value (H_0 = 72 +/- 8 km s-1 Mpc-1). Using a de Vaucouleurs mass profile and external shear, we find H_0 = 80.8 +7.0 -3.0 km s-1 Mpc-1. A more realistic Singular Isothermal Sphere model plus external shear gives H_0 = 51.7 +4.0 -3.0 km s-1 Mpc-1