We have obtained spectropolarimetric observations of the four images of the gravitationally lensed broad absorption line quasar H1413+117. The polarization of the microlensed image D is significantly different both in the continuum and in the broad lines from the polarization of image A which is essentially unaffected by microlensing. The observations suggest that the continuum is scattered off two regions spatially separated and producing roughly perpendicular polarizations. These results are compatible with a model in which the microlensed polarized continuum comes from a compact region located in the equatorial plane close to the accretion disk and the non-microlensed continuum from an extended region located along the polar axis.
@article{arxiv.1510.06047,
title = {Polarization microlensing in the quadruply imaged broad absorption line quasar H1413+117},
author = {D. Hutsemékers and D. Sluse and L. Braibant and T. Anguita},
journal= {arXiv preprint arXiv:1510.06047},
year = {2015}
}
Comments
Accepted for publication in Astronomy and Astrophysics; minor changes (language editing)