Discovery of a dual active galactic nucleus with similar to 8 kpc separation

作者：Ellison Sara L; Secrest Nathan J; Mendel J Trevor; Satyapal Shobita; Simard Luc

来源：Monthly Notices of the Royal Astronomical Society, 2017, 470(1): L49-L53.

DOI：10.1093/mnrasl/slx076

• galaxies: active
• galaxies: interactions
• galaxies: Seyfert
• infrared: galaxies X
• rays: galaxies

Targeted searches for dual active galactic nuclei (AGNs), with separations 1-10 kpc, have yielded relatively few successes. A recent pilot survey by Satyapal et al. has demonstrated that mid-infrared (mid-IR) pre-selection has the potential to significantly improve the success rate for dual AGN confirmation in late stage galaxy mergers. In this Letter, we combine mid-IR selection with spatially resolved optical AGN diagnostics from the Mapping Nearby Galaxies at Apache Point Observatory survey to identify a candidate dual AGN in the late stage major galaxy merger SDSS J140737.17+442856.2 at z = 0.143. The nature of the dual AGN is confirmed with Chandra X-ray observations that identify two hard X-ray point sources with intrinsic (corrected for absorption) 2-10 keV luminosities of 4 x10(41) and 3.5 x10(43) erg s(-1) separated by 8.3 kpc. The neutral hydrogen absorption (similar to 10(22) cm(-2)) towards the two AGNs is lower than in duals selected solely on their mid-IR colours, indicating that strategies that combine optical and mid-IR diagnostics may complement techniques that identify the highly obscured dual phase, such as at high X-ray energies or mid-IR only.

• 出版日期2017-9