# Cloverleaf quasar

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Rare example of a quadruply-lensed quasar

Cloverleaf, H1413+117, QSO 1415+1129 ESO image of the Cloverleaf quasar Observation data (Epoch J2000) Right ascension 14 h 15 m 46.27 s Declination +11° 29 ′ 43.4 ″ Redshift 2.56 Distance 11 Gly Apparent magnitude (V) 17 Notable features Four-image lens, bright CO emission Other designations QSO J1415+1129, QSO B1413+1143, H 1413+117, Clover Leaf Quasar See also: Quasar, List of quasars

The **Cloverleaf quasar** (**H1413+117**, **QSO J1415+1129**) is a bright, [gravitationally lensed](/source/Gravitational_lensing) [quasar](/source/Quasar) discovered by [Hazard](/source/Cyril_Hazard), Morton, Terlevich and McMahon in 1984.[1] It receives its name because of [gravitational lensing](/source/Gravitational_lens) splitting the single quasar into four images.[2] Gravitational lensing of the quasar H1413+1011 was discovered in Magain et al. [1] in 1988, which found that the quasar's light was split by gravitational lensing by a foreground galaxy into four images gave it the name "Cloverleaf quasar".

## Quasar

Molecular gas (notably CO) detected in the host galaxy associated with the quasar is the oldest molecular material known and provides evidence of large-scale star formation in the early universe. Thanks to the strong magnification provided by the foreground [lens](/source/Gravitational_lens), the Cloverleaf is the brightest known source of CO emission at high redshift[3] and was also the first source at a [redshift](/source/Redshift) *z* = 2.56 to be detected with HCN[4] or HCO+ emission.[5] This suggests the quasar is currently undergoing an intense wave of [star formations](/source/Star_formation) thus increasing its [luminosity](/source/Luminosity).[4] A [radio jet](/source/Astrophysical_jet) has also been found on the side of quasar according to a study published in 2023.[6]

CCD image of the Cloverleaf quasar taken in March 1988 by the ESO/MPI 2.2m telescope. The four separated images are part of the quasar.

The 4 quasar images were originally discovered in 1984; in 1988, they were determined to be a single quasar split into four images, instead of 4 separate quasars. The [X-rays](/source/X-rays) from iron atoms were also enhanced relative to X-rays at lower energies. Since the amount of brightening due to gravitational lensing doesn't vary with the wavelength, this means that an additional object has magnified the X-rays. The increased [magnification](/source/Magnification) of the X-ray light can be explained by gravitational [microlensing](/source/Microlensing), an effect which has been used to search for compact [stars](/source/Stars) and [planets](/source/Planets) in our galaxy. Microlensing occurs when a star or a multiple star system passes in front of light from a background object. If a single star or a multiple star system in one of the foreground galaxies passed in front of the light path for the brightest image, then that image would be selectively magnified.[7]

### Black hole

The X-rays would be magnified much more than the [visible light](/source/Visible_light) if they came from a region around the central [supermassive black hole](/source/Supermassive_black_hole) of the lensing galaxy that was smaller than the origin region of the visible light. The enhancement of the [X-rays](/source/X-rays) from [iron](/source/Iron) [ions](/source/Ions) would be due to this same effect. The analysis indicates that the X-rays are coming from a very small region, about the size of the [Solar System](/source/Solar_System), around the central black hole. The visible light is coming from a region ten or more times larger. The angular size of these regions at a distance of 11 billion [light years](/source/Light_years) is tens of thousands times smaller than the smallest region that can be resolved by the Hubble Space [Telescope](/source/Telescope). This provides a way to test models for the flow of gas around a supermassive black hole.[7] Additionally, inner regions of the quasar's [accretion disk](/source/Accretion_disk) around the black hole has been detected suggesting outflow wind.[8]

### Lensing galaxy and partial Einstein ring

Data from [NICMOS](/source/Near_Infrared_Camera_and_Multi-Object_Spectrometer) and a special [algorithm](/source/Algorithm) resolved the lensing galaxy and a partial [Einstein ring](/source/Einstein_ring). The Einstein ring represents the host galaxy of the lensed quasar.[9]

## History

The Cloverleaf quasar was discovered in 1988. Data on the Cloverleaf collected by the [Chandra X-ray Observatory](/source/Chandra_X-ray_Observatory) in 2004 were compared with that gathered by optical telescopes. One of the X-ray components (A) in the Cloverleaf is brighter than the others in both optical and X-ray light but was found to be relatively brighter in X-ray than in optical light. The X-rays from iron atoms were also enhanced relative to X-rays at lower energies.[7]

## Gallery

		- Quadruple image of the quasar taken with [Hubble Space Telescope](/source/Hubble_Space_Telescope).

		- Graphic illustration of four images of the quasar caused by gravitational lensing.

## See also

- [List of quasars](/source/List_of_quasars)

## References

1. ^ [***a***](#cite_ref-Hazard_1-0) [***b***](#cite_ref-Hazard_1-1) C. Hazard; D. C. Morton; R. Terlevich; R. G. McMahon (1984). "Nine new quasi-stellar objects with broad absorption lines". *[Astrophysical Journal](/source/Astrophysical_Journal)*. **282**: 33–52. [Bibcode](/source/Bibcode_(identifier)):[1984ApJ...282...33H](https://ui.adsabs.harvard.edu/abs/1984ApJ...282...33H). [doi](/source/Doi_(identifier)):[10.1086/162174](https://doi.org/10.1086%2F162174).

1. **[^](#cite_ref-2)** information@eso.org. ["The Cloverleaf quasar"](https://www.eso.org/public/images/cloverleaf-quasar/). *www.eso.org*. Retrieved 2024-08-28.

1. **[^](#cite_ref-3)** S. Venturini; P. M. Solomon (2003). "The Molecular Disk in the Cloverleaf Quasar". *[Astrophysical Journal](/source/Astrophysical_Journal)*. **590** (2): 740–745. [arXiv](/source/ArXiv_(identifier)):[astro-ph/0210529](https://arxiv.org/abs/astro-ph/0210529). [Bibcode](/source/Bibcode_(identifier)):[2003ApJ...590..740V](https://ui.adsabs.harvard.edu/abs/2003ApJ...590..740V). [doi](/source/Doi_(identifier)):[10.1086/375050](https://doi.org/10.1086%2F375050). [S2CID](/source/S2CID_(identifier)) [761080](https://api.semanticscholar.org/CorpusID:761080).

1. ^ [***a***](#cite_ref-:0_4-0) [***b***](#cite_ref-:0_4-1) P. Solomon; P. Vanden Bout; C. Carilli; M. Guelin (2003). "The Essential Signature of a Massive Starburst in a Distant Quasar". *[Nature](/source/Nature_(journal))*. **426** (6967): 636–638. [arXiv](/source/ArXiv_(identifier)):[astro-ph/0312436](https://arxiv.org/abs/astro-ph/0312436). [Bibcode](/source/Bibcode_(identifier)):[2003Natur.426..636S](https://ui.adsabs.harvard.edu/abs/2003Natur.426..636S). [doi](/source/Doi_(identifier)):[10.1038/nature02149](https://doi.org/10.1038%2Fnature02149). [PMID](/source/PMID_(identifier)) [14668856](https://pubmed.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/14668856). [S2CID](/source/S2CID_(identifier)) [4414417](https://api.semanticscholar.org/CorpusID:4414417).

1. **[^](#cite_ref-5)** D. A. Riechers; et al. (2006). "First Detection of HCO+ Emission at High Redshift". *[Astrophysical Journal Letters](/source/Astrophysical_Journal_Letters)*. **645** (1): L13–L16. [arXiv](/source/ArXiv_(identifier)):[astro-ph/0605437](https://arxiv.org/abs/astro-ph/0605437). [Bibcode](/source/Bibcode_(identifier)):[2006ApJ...645L..13R](https://ui.adsabs.harvard.edu/abs/2006ApJ...645L..13R). [doi](/source/Doi_(identifier)):[10.1086/505908](https://doi.org/10.1086%2F505908). [S2CID](/source/S2CID_(identifier)) [17504751](https://api.semanticscholar.org/CorpusID:17504751).

1. **[^](#cite_ref-6)** Zhang, Lei; Zhang, Zhi-Yu; Nightingale, James W.; Zou, Ze-Cheng; Cao, Xiaoyue; Tsai, Chao-Wei; Yang, Chentao; Shi, Yong; Wang, Junzhi; Xu, Dandan; Lin, Ling-Rui; Zhou, Jing; Li, Ran (2023-09-01). ["Discovery of a radio jet in the Cloverleaf quasar at z = 2.56"](https://doi.org/10.1093%2Fmnras%2Fstad2069). *Monthly Notices of the Royal Astronomical Society*. **524** (3): 3671–3682. [arXiv](/source/ArXiv_(identifier)):[2212.07027](https://arxiv.org/abs/2212.07027). [Bibcode](/source/Bibcode_(identifier)):[2023MNRAS.524.3671Z](https://ui.adsabs.harvard.edu/abs/2023MNRAS.524.3671Z). [doi](/source/Doi_(identifier)):[10.1093/mnras/stad2069](https://doi.org/10.1093%2Fmnras%2Fstad2069). [ISSN](/source/ISSN_(identifier)) [0035-8711](https://search.worldcat.org/issn/0035-8711).

1. ^ [***a***](#cite_ref-:1_7-0) [***b***](#cite_ref-:1_7-1) [***c***](#cite_ref-:1_7-2) ["Chandra :: Photo Album :: Cloverleaf Quasar (a.k.a. H1413+117) :: More Images of the Cloverleaf Quasar"](https://chandra.harvard.edu/photo/2004/h1413/more.html). *chandra.harvard.edu*. Retrieved 2024-08-28.

1. **[^](#cite_ref-8)** Chartas, G.; Eracleous, M.; Dai, X.; Agol, E.; Gallagher, S. (2007-06-01). ["Discovery of Probable Relativistic Fe Emission and Absorption in the Cloverleaf Quasar H 1413+117"](https://ui.adsabs.harvard.edu/abs/2007ApJ...661..678C/abstract). *The Astrophysical Journal*. **661** (2): 678–692. [arXiv](/source/ArXiv_(identifier)):[astro-ph/0702742](https://arxiv.org/abs/astro-ph/0702742). [Bibcode](/source/Bibcode_(identifier)):[2007ApJ...661..678C](https://ui.adsabs.harvard.edu/abs/2007ApJ...661..678C). [doi](/source/Doi_(identifier)):[10.1086/516816](https://doi.org/10.1086%2F516816). [ISSN](/source/ISSN_(identifier)) [0004-637X](https://search.worldcat.org/issn/0004-637X).

1. **[^](#cite_ref-9)** Chantry, Virginie; Magain, Pierre (August 2007). ["Deconvolution of HST images of the Cloverleaf gravitational lens : detection of the lensing galaxy and a partial Einstein ring"](https://doi.org/10.1051%2F0004-6361%3A20066839). *Astronomy & Astrophysics*. **470** (2): 467–473. [arXiv](/source/ArXiv_(identifier)):[astro-ph/0612094](https://arxiv.org/abs/astro-ph/0612094). [Bibcode](/source/Bibcode_(identifier)):[2007A&A...470..467C](https://ui.adsabs.harvard.edu/abs/2007A&A...470..467C). [doi](/source/Doi_(identifier)):[10.1051/0004-6361:20066839](https://doi.org/10.1051%2F0004-6361%3A20066839). [ISSN](/source/ISSN_(identifier)) [0004-6361](https://search.worldcat.org/issn/0004-6361).

## Further reading

- R. Barvainis; L. Tacconi; R. Antonucci; D. Alloin; P. Coleman (2002). "Extremely strong carbon monoxide emission from the Cloverleaf quasar at a redshift of 2.5". *[Nature](/source/Nature_(journal))*. **371** (6498): 586–588. [Bibcode](/source/Bibcode_(identifier)):[1994Natur.371..586B](https://ui.adsabs.harvard.edu/abs/1994Natur.371..586B). [doi](/source/Doi_(identifier)):[10.1038/371586a0](https://doi.org/10.1038%2F371586a0). [S2CID](/source/S2CID_(identifier)) [4246365](https://api.semanticscholar.org/CorpusID:4246365).

- C. M. Bradford; et al. (2009). "The Warm Molecular Gas Around the Cloverleaf Quasar". *[Astrophysical Journal](/source/Astrophysical_Journal)*. **705** (1): 112. [arXiv](/source/ArXiv_(identifier)):[0908.1818](https://arxiv.org/abs/0908.1818). [Bibcode](/source/Bibcode_(identifier)):[2009ApJ...705..112B](https://ui.adsabs.harvard.edu/abs/2009ApJ...705..112B). [doi](/source/Doi_(identifier)):[10.1088/0004-637X/705/1/112](https://doi.org/10.1088%2F0004-637X%2F705%2F1%2F112). [S2CID](/source/S2CID_(identifier)) [13889803](https://api.semanticscholar.org/CorpusID:13889803).

## External links

- Chandra at Havard CfA, ["Cloverleaf Quasar: Chandra Looks Over a Cosmic Four-Leaf Clover"](http://chandra.harvard.edu/photo/2004/h1413/), 20 February 2009

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Adapted from the Wikipedia article [Cloverleaf quasar](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Cloverleaf_quasar) by Wikipedia contributors ([contributor history](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Cloverleaf_quasar?action=history)). Available under [Creative Commons Attribution-ShareAlike 4.0 International](https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-sa/4.0/). Changes may have been made.