APM 08279+5255: Keck Near- and Mid-IR High-Resolution Imaging

Abstract

We present Keck high-resolution near-IR (2.2 microns; FWHM~0.15") and mid-IR (12.5 microns; FWHM~0.4") images of APM08279+5255, a z=3.91 IR-luminous BALQSO with a prodigious apparent bolometric luminosity of 5x10^{15} Lsun, the largest known in the universe. The K-band image shows that this system consists of three components, all of which are likely to be the gravitationally lensed images of the same background object, and the 12.5 micron image shows a morphology consistent with such an image configuration. Our lens model suggests that the magnification factor is ~100 from the restframe UV to mid-IR, where most of the luminosity is released. The intrinsic bolometric luminosity and IR luminosity of APM08279+5255 are estimated to be 5x10^{13} Lsun and 1x10^{13} Lsun, respectively. This indicates that APM 08279+5255 is intriniscally luminous, but it is not the most luminous object known. As for its dust contents, little can be determined with the currently available data due to the uncertainties associated with the dust emissivity and the possible effects of differential magnification. We also suggest that the lensing galaxy is likely to be a massive galaxy at z~3.