2002/10/31 by S. Venturini, P. M. Solomon · 5 citations
Physics and Astronomy · #Astronomy and Astrophysical Research #Constant (computer programming) #Dark matter #Galaxies: Formation, Evolution, Phenomena #Gamma-ray bursts and supernovae #Gravitational lens #Hubble's law #Infrared #Quasar #RADIUS #Weak gravitational lensing #astro-ph
paper · pdf · doi:10.1086/375050
published as Astrophys.J. 590 (2003) 740-745 · 18 pages, 2 figures, accepted for publication in ApJ
arxiv created 2003/02/28 · openalex publication_date 2003/06/20 · arxiv updated 2009/12/01 · openalex created_date 2016/06/24 · openalex updated_date 2026/08/05
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.