Characterisation of a candidate dual AGN

Abstract

We present Chandra and optical observations of a candidate dual AGN discovered serendipitously while searching for recoiling black holes via a cross-correlation between the serendipitous XMM source catalog (2XMMi) and SDSS-DR7 galaxies with a separation no larger than ten times the sum of their Petrosian radii. The system has a stellar mass ratio M${}_1$/M${}_2\approx 0.7$. One of the galaxies (Source 1) shows clear evidence for AGN activity in the form of hard X-ray emission and optical emission-line diagnostics typical of AGN ionisation. The nucleus of the other galaxy (Source 2) has a soft X-ray spectrum, bluer colours, and optical emission line ratios dominated by stellar photoionisation with a "composite" signature, which might indicate the presence of a weak AGN. When plotted on a diagram with X-ray luminosity vs [OIII] luminosity both nuclei fall within the locus defined by local Seyfert galaxies. From the optical spectrum we estimate the electron densities finding n${}_1<27$ e${}^{-}$ cm${}^{-3}$ and n${}_2\approx 200$ e${}^{-}$ cm${}^{-3}$. From a 2D decomposition of the surface brightness distribution we infer that both galaxies host rotationally supported bulges (Sersic index $<1$). While the active nature of Source 1 can be established with confidence, whether the nucleus of Source 2 is active remains a matter of debate. Evidence that a faint AGN might reside in its nucleus is, however, tantalising.

arXiv comment16 pages, 9 figures. Accepted for publication on MNRAS. Comments welcome

References in corpus (97)

• The Wide-field Infrared Survey Explorer (WISE): Mission Description and Initial On-orbit Performance
• The Seventh Data Release of the Sloan Digital Sky Survey
• Unified Schemes for Radio-Loud Active Galactic Nuclei
• A Fundamental Relation Between Supermassive Black Holes and Their Host Galaxies
• The Host Galaxies of AGN
• The Leiden/Argentine/Bonn (LAB) Survey of Galactic HI: Final data release of the combined LDS and IAR surveys with improved stray-radiation corrections
• A Relationship Between Nuclear Black Hole Mass and Galaxy Velocity Dispersion
• Detailed Structural Decomposition of Galaxy Images
• The Optical and Near-Infrared Properties of Galaxies: I. Luminosity and Stellar Mass Functions
• Parametric Recovery of Line-of-Sight Velocity Distributions from Absorption-Line Spectra of Galaxies via Penalized Likelihood
• The Host Galaxies and Classification of Active Galactic Nuclei
• Gaia Data Release 1. Summary of the astrometric, photometric, and survey properties
• Detailed Decomposition of Galaxy Images. II. Beyond Axisymmetric Models
• The Relation between Black Hole Mass, Bulge Mass, and Near-Infrared Luminosity
• K-corrections and filter transformations in the ultraviolet, optical, and near infrared
• MILES: A Medium resolution INT Library of Empirical Spectra
• Improving the full spectrum fitting method: accurate convolution with Gauss-Hermite functions
• The Co-Evolution of Galaxies and Supermassive Black Holes: Insights from Surveys of the Contemporary Universe
• A Cosmology Calculator for the World Wide Web
• The Fourth US Naval Observatory CCD Astrograph Catalog (UCAC4)
• The SAURON project - IV. The mass-to-light ratio, the virial mass estimator and the fundamental plane of elliptical and lenticular galaxies
• GAIA: Composition, Formation and Evolution of the Galaxy
• The Pan-STARRS1 Photometric System
• Supermassive Black Holes in Galactic Nuclei: Past, Present and Future Research
• Mid-Infrared Selection of AGN with the Wide-Field Infrared Survey Explorer. I. Characterizing WISE-Selected AGN in COSMOS
• The Pan-STARRS1 Surveys
• Discovery of a binary AGN in the ultraluminous infrared galaxy NGC 6240 using Chandra
• A Wavelet-Based Algorithm for the Spatial Analysis of Poisson Data
• What Drives the Growth of Black Holes?
• Large Merger Recoils and Spin Flips From Generic Black-Hole Binaries
• An Intermediate-mass Black Hole of Over 500 Solar Masses in the Galaxy ESO 243-49
• The Thirteenth Data Release of the Sloan Digital Sky Survey: First Spectroscopic Data from the SDSS-IV Survey MApping Nearby Galaxies at Apache Point Observatory
• How Do Massive Black Holes Get Their Gas?
• The XMM-Newton Serendipitous Survey. V. The Second XMM-Newton Serendipitous Source Catalogue
• Chandra X-Ray Observatory (CXO):Overview
• A 3 dimensional diagnostic diagram for Seyfert 2s: probing X-ray absorption and Compton thickness
• Star formation rate indicators in the Sloan Digital Sky Survey
• Black hole variability and the star formation-AGN connection: Do all star-forming galaxies host an AGN?
• On the X-ray, optical emission line and black hole mass properties of local Seyfert galaxies
• Radiatively Inefficient Accretion in Nearby Galaxies
• Black Hole Demographics from the M(BH)-sigma Relation
• The MOSDEF Survey: Electron Density and Ionization Parameter at $z\sim 2.3$
• The Afterglow of Massive Black Hole Coalescence
• The Relation Between Quasar and Merging Galaxy Luminosity Functions and the Merger-Induced Star Formation Rate of the Universe
• A recoiling supermassive black hole in the quasar SDSSJ092712.65+294344.0?
• Understanding Dual AGN Activation in the Nearby Universe
• The bolometric luminosity of type 2 AGN from extinction-corrected [OIII]: no evidence for Eddington-limited sources
• Observability of Dual Active Galactic Nuclei in Merging Galaxies
• Identification of the infrared non-thermal emission in Blazars
• Active Galactic Nuclei with Double-peaked Narrow Lines: Are They Dual AGNs?
• Host Galaxy Properties of the Swift BAT Ultra Hard X-ray Selected AGN
• The interplay between a galactic bar and a supermassive black hole: nuclear fueling in a sub-parsec resolution galaxy simulation
• Active Galactic Nucleus Pairs from the Sloan Digital Sky Survey. I. The Frequency on ~ 5-100 kpc Scales
• Size and properties of the narrow-line region in Seyfert-1 galaxies from spatially-resolved optical spectroscopy
• Chandra Discovery of a Binary Active Galactic Nucleus in Mrk 739
• Binary black hole mergers: large kicks for generic spin orientations
• Kiloparsec-scale Spatial Offsets in Double-peaked Narrow-line Active Galactic Nuclei. I. Markers for Selection of Compelling Dual Active Galactic Nucleus Candidates
• Radial Velocity Offsets Due to Mass Outflows and Extinction in Active Galactic Nuclei
• A Runaway Black Hole in COSMOS: Gravitational Wave or Slingshot Recoil?
• Growing Massive Black Hole Pairs in Minor Mergers of Disk Galaxies
• Chandra/ACIS Subpixel Event Repositioning. II. Further Refinements and Comparison between Backside and Front-side Illuminated X-ray CCDs
• Chandra X-ray and Hubble Space Telescope Imaging of Optically Selected kiloparsec-Scale Binary Active Galactic Nuclei I. Nature of the Nuclear Ionizing Sources
• A Kiloparsec-Scale Binary Active Galactic Nucleus Confirmed by the Expanded Very Large Array
• Double-peaked Narrow-Line Signatures of Dual Supermassive Black Holes in Galaxy Merger Simulations
• Obscured Binary Quasar Cores in SDSS J104807.74+005543.5?
• Swift coalescence of supermassive black holes in cosmological mergers of massive galaxies
• Narrow double-peaked emission lines of SDSS J131642.90+175332.5: signature of a single or a binary AGN in a merger, jet-cloud interaction, or unusual narrow-line region geometry
• Nonlinear Gravitational Recoil from the Mergers of Precessing Black-Hole Binaries
• Buried AGNs in Advanced Mergers:Mid-infrared color selection as a dual AGN finder
• The electromagnetic chirp of a compact binary black hole: a phase template for the gravitational wave inspiral
• A panchromatic view of AGN
• Investigation of Dual Active Nuclei, Outflows, Shock-Heated Gas, and Young Star Clusters in Markarian 266
• The complex gas kinematics in the nucleus of the Seyfert 2 galaxy NGC 1386: rotation, outflows and inflows
• Gas Streaming Motions towards the Nucleus of M81
• Chandra High resolution Observations of CID-42, a candidate recoiling SMBH
• Recoiling Supermassive Black Holes: a search in the Nearby Universe
• Dissecting Galaxies: Separating Star Formation, Shock Excitation and AGN Activity in the Central Region of NGC 613
• A bright off-nuclear X-ray source: A bright off-nuclear X-ray source: a type IIn supernova, a bright ULX or a recoiling super-massive black hole in CXO J122518.6+144545
• Circumnuclear regions in barred spiral galaxies. I. Near-infrared imaging
• The effects of dust on the photometric parameters of decomposed disks and bulges
• The supermassive black hole mass - Sérsic index relations for bulges and elliptical galaxies
• Identification of Outflows and Candidate Dual Active Galactic Nuclei in SDSS Quasars at z=0.8-1.6
• Linking the fate of massive black hole binaries to the active galactic nuclei luminosity function
• The Origin of Double-Peaked Narrow Lines in Active Galactic Nuclei III: Feedback from Biconical AGN Outflows
• Ionized gas kinematics within the inner kiloparsec of the Seyfert galaxy NGC 1365
• The Nature of Active Galactic Nuclei with Velocity Offset Emission Lines
• A Search for Double-peaked narrow emission line Galaxies and AGNs in the LAMOST DR1
• Four dual AGN candidates observed with the VLBA
• Dusty spirals versus gas kinematics in the inner kiloparsec of Four Low-Luminosity Active Galactic Nuclei
• Chandra X-ray and Hubble Space Telescope Imaging of Optically Selected Kiloparsec-Scale Binary Active Galactic Nuclei II: Host Galaxy Morphology and AGN Activity
• A Tale of Two Narrow-Line Regions: Ionization, Kinematics, and Spectral Energy Distributions for a Local Pair of Merging Obscured Active Galaxies
• Searching for X-ray Luminous Starburst Galaxies
• Discovery of a second outbursting hyperluminous X-ray source
• Gravitational Fragmentation in Galaxy Mergers: A Stability Criteria
• Galaxy Bulges and Elliptical Galaxies - Lecture Notes
• Searching for a pair of accreting supermassive black holes in J1425+3231
• Optical Spectroscopy of LINERs and Low-Luminosity Seyfert Nuclei

Cited by in corpus (6)

• The Quest for Dual and Binary Supermassive Black Holes: A Multi-Messenger View
• Hubble Space Telescope Wide Field Camera 3 Identifies an $r_p$ = 1 Kpc Dual Active Galactic Nucleus in the Minor Galaxy Merger SDSS J0924+0510 at z = 0.1495
• Proper motion in lensed radio jets at redshift 3: a possible dual super-massive black hole system in the early Universe
• PS J1721+8842: A gravitationally lensed dual AGN system at redshift 2.37 with two radio components
• 2MASX J00423991+3017515: An offset active galactic nucleus in an interacting system
• Detection of the Fe K lines from the binary AGN in 4C+37.11