2011ApJ...737L..19C -
Astrophys. J., 737, L19 (2011/August-2)
Chandra observations of a 1.9 kpc separation double X-ray source in a candidate dual active galactic nucleus galaxy at z = 0.16.
COMERFORD J.M., POOLEY D., GERKE B.F. and MADEJSKI G.M.
Abstract (from CDS):
We report Chandra observations of a double X-ray source in the z = 0.1569 galaxy SDSS J171544.05+600835.7. The galaxy was initially identified as a dual active galactic nucleus (AGN) candidate based on the double-peaked [O III] λ5007 emission lines, with a line-of-sight velocity separation of 350 km/s, in its Sloan Digital Sky Survey spectrum. We used the Kast Spectrograph at Lick Observatory to obtain two long-slit spectra of the galaxy at two different position angles, which reveal that the two Type 2 AGN emission components have not only a velocity offset, but also a projected spatial offset of 1.9 h–170 kpc on the sky. Chandra/ACIS observations of two X-ray sources with the same spatial offset and orientation as the optical emission suggest that the galaxy most likely contains Compton-thick dual AGNs, although the observations could also be explained by AGN jets. Deeper X-ray observations that reveal Fe K lines, if present, would distinguish between the two scenarios. The observations of a double X-ray source in SDSS J171544.05+600835.7 are a proof of concept for a new, systematic detection method that selects promising dual AGN candidates from ground-based spectroscopy that exhibits both velocity and spatial offsets in the AGN emission features.
Abstract Copyright:
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Journal keyword(s):
galaxies: active - galaxies: individual: SDSS J171544.05+600835.7 - galaxies: interactions - galaxies: nuclei
Simbad objects:
6
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