Year: 2003
Type: article
Abstract: We propose a new interpretation for the CO-emitting region of the Cloverleaf (H1413+1143), a gravitationally lensed quasi-stellar object. We fitted a two-galaxy lensing model directly to the Institut de Radioastronomie Millimétrique CO (7-6) data rather than to the optical Hubble Space Telescope image, and from the fit we infer that the CO (7-6) source is a disklike structure with a characteristic radius of 785 pc, a size similar to that of the CO-emitting regions present in nearby starburst ultraluminous infrared galaxies. We therefore suggest that the Cloverleaf contains both an extended rotating molecular starburst disk and a central quasar.
Source: The Astrophysical Journal
DOI: 10.1086/375050
Authors: S. Venturini, P. M. Solomon
Institution: Stony Brook University
Language: English
Subfield: Astronomy and Astrophysics
Field: Physics and Astronomy
Domain: Physical Sciences
Open Access status: bronze
OpenAlex ID: W1990487473