2018ApJ...862...29L -
Astrophys. J., 862, 29-29 (2018/July-3)
Hubble Space Telescope Wide Field Camera 3 identifies an rp = 1 kpc dual active galactic nucleus in the minor galaxy merger SDSS J0924+0510 at z = 0.1495.
LIU X., GUO H., SHEN Y., GREENE J.E. and STRAUSS M.A.
Abstract (from CDS):
Kiloparsec-scale dual active galactic nuclei (AGNs) are active supermassive black hole pairs co-rotating in galaxies with separations of less than a few kpc. Expected to be a generic outcome of hierarchical galaxy formation, their frequency and demographics remain uncertain. We have carried out an imaging survey with the Hubble Space Telescope (HST) Wide Field Camera 3 (WFC3) of AGNs with double-peaked narrow [O III] emission lines. HST/WFC3 offers high image quality in the near-infrared (NIR) to resolve the two stellar nuclei, and in the optical to resolve [O III] from ionized gas in the narrow-line regions. This combination has proven to be key in sorting out alternative scenarios. With HST/WFC3 we are able to explore a new population of close dual AGNs at more advanced merger stages than can be probed from the ground. Here we show that the AGN Sloan Digital Sky Survey (SDSS) J0924+0510, which had previously shown two stellar bulges, contains two spatially distinct [O III] regions consistent with a dual AGN. While we cannot completely exclude cross-ionization from a single central engine, the nearly equal ratios of [O III] strongly suggest a dual AGN with a projected angular separation of 0.''4, corresponding to a projected physical separation of rp = 1 kpc at redshift z = 0.1495. This serves as a proof of principle for combining high-resolution NIR and optical imaging to identify close dual AGNs. Our result suggests that studies based on low-resolution and/or low-sensitivity observations may miss close dual AGNs and thereby may underestimate their occurrence rate on <=kpc scales.
Abstract Copyright:
© 2018. The American Astronomical Society. All rights reserved.
Journal keyword(s):
black hole physics - galaxies: active - galaxies: interactions - galaxies: nuclei - galaxies: Seyfert - quasars: general
Nomenclature:
Table 2: [LGS2018] SDSS J0924+0510W (Nos E, W).
Simbad objects:
5
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