The Molecular Disk in the Cloverleaf Quasar

Abstract

We propose a new interpretation for the CO-emitting region of theCloverleaf (H1413+1143), a gravitationally lensed quasi-stellar object.We fitted a two-galaxy lensing model directly to the Institut deRadioastronomie Millimetrique CO (7-6) data rather than to the opticalHubble Space Telescope image, and from the fit we infer that theCO (7-6) source is a disklike structure with a characteristic radiusof 785 pc,(1) a size similar to that of the CO-emitting regions presentin nearby starburst ultraluminous infrared galaxies. We thereforesuggest that the Cloverleaf contains both an extended rotating molecularstarburst disk and a central quasar.