Galaxy interactions are the dominant trigger for local type 2 quasars

Abstract

The triggering mechanism for the most luminous, quasar-like active galactic nuclei (AGN) remains a source of debate, with some studies favouring triggering via galaxy mergers, but others finding little evidence to support this mechanism. Here, we present deep Isaac Newton Telescope/Wide Field Camera imaging observations of a complete sample of 48 optically-selected type 2 quasars $-$ the QSOFEED sample (L${}_{[\mathrm{OIII}]}>$10${}^{8.5}$$L_{\odot }$; $z<0.14$). Based on visual inspection by eight classifiers, we find clear evidence that galaxy interactions are the dominant triggering mechanism for quasar activity in the local universe, with 65${}_{-7}^{+6}$ per cent of the type 2 quasar hosts showing morphological features consistent with galaxy mergers or encounters, compared with only 22${}_{-4}^{+5}$ per cent of a stellar-mass- and redshift-matched comparison sample of non-AGN galaxies $-$ a 5$\sigma$ difference. The type 2 quasar hosts are a factor 3.0${}_{-0.8}^{+0.5}$ more likely to be morphologically disturbed than their matched non-AGN counterparts, similar to our previous results for powerful 3CR radio AGN of comparable [OIII] emission-line luminosity and redshift. In contrast to the idea that quasars are triggered at the peaks of galaxy mergers as the two nuclei coalesce, and only become visible post-coalescence, the majority of morphologically-disturbed type 2 quasar sources in our sample are observed in the pre-coalescence phase (61${}_{-9}^{+8}$ per cent). We argue that much of the apparent ambiguity that surrounds observational results in this field is a result of differences in the surface brightness depths of the observations, combined with the effects of cosmological surface brightness dimming.

arXiv commentAccepted for publication in MNRAS. 17 pages, 7 figures

References in corpus (60)

• Coevolution (Or Not) of Supermassive Black Holes and Host Galaxies
• The many lives of active galactic nuclei: cooling flows, black holes and the luminosities and colours of galaxies
• Energy input from quasars regulates the growth and activity of black holes and their host galaxies
• Observational Evidence of AGN Feedback
• The broken hierarchy of galaxy formation
• A Cosmological Framework for the Co-Evolution of Quasars, Supermassive Black Holes, and Elliptical Galaxies: I. Galaxy Mergers & Quasar Activity
• Galaxy Zoo : Morphologies derived from visual inspection of galaxies from the Sloan Digital Sky Survey
• Rotating Nuclear Rings and Extreme Starbursts in Ultraluminous Galaxies
• The Co-Evolution of Galaxies and Supermassive Black Holes: Insights from Surveys of the Contemporary Universe
• Present-Day Growth of Black Holes and Bulges: the SDSS Perspective
• Galaxy Zoo 1 : Data Release of Morphological Classifications for nearly 900,000 galaxies
• Hubble Space Telescope Images of a Sample of Twenty Nearby Luminous Quasars
• Quasars, their host galaxies, and their central black holes
• How Do Massive Black Holes Get Their Gas?
• On the Estimation of Confidence Intervals for Binomial Population Proportions in Astronomy: The Simplicity and Superiority of the Bayesian Approach
• Galaxy Merger Morphologies and Time-Scales from Simulations of Equal-Mass Gas-Rich Disc Mergers
• Fast Molecular Outflows in Luminous Galaxy Mergers: Evidence for Quasar Feedback from Herschel
• Galaxy pairs in the Sloan Digital Sky Survey - IV: Interactions trigger AGN
• Major Galaxy Mergers Only Trigger the Most Luminous AGN
• Candidate Type II Quasars from the Sloan Digital Sky Survey: I. Selection and Optical Properties of a Sample at 0.3<Z<0.83
• Quasar Clustering and the Lifetime of Quasars
• A comparative HST imaging study of the host galaxies of radio-quiet quasars, radio-loud quasars and radio galaxies: Paper I
• Space density of optically-selected type 2 quasars
• Evidence for Quasar Activity Triggered by Galaxy Mergers in HST Observations of Dust-reddened Quasars
• Black Hole growth and AGN obscuration by instability-driven inflows in high-redshift disk galaxies fed by cold streams
• A definitive merger-AGN connection at z~0 with CFIS: mergers have an excess of AGN and AGN hosts are more frequently disturbed
• The power of infrared AGN selection in mergers: a theoretical study
• Observational Constraints on the Feeding of Supermassive Black Holes
• Evidence for Merger Remnants in Early-Type Host Galaxies of Low-Redshift QSOs
• THELI -- Convenient reduction of any optical, near- and mid-infrared imaging data
• Luminosity-Dependent Quasar Lifetimes: A New Interpretation of the Quasar Luminosity Function
• Host galaxies of luminous z$\sim$0.6 quasars: Major mergers are not prevalent at the highest AGN luminosities
• Simulations of supermassive black hole growth in high-redshift disk galaxies
• Are luminous radio-loud active galactic nuclei triggered by galaxy interactions?
• Do the Most Massive Black Holes at $z=2$ Grow via Major Mergers?
• The optical morphologies of the 2Jy sample of radio galaxies: evidence for galaxy interactions
• On the Gas Content and Efficiency of AGN Feedback in Low-redshift Quasars
• The Small-Scale Environment of Quasars
• The evolution of Black Hole scaling relations in galaxy mergers
• The diverse cold molecular gas contents, morphologies, and kinematics of type-2 quasars as seen by ALMA
• BAT AGN Spectroscopic Survey-XX: Molecular Gas in Nearby Hard X-ray Selected AGN Galaxies
• Major mergers are not the dominant trigger for high-accretion AGNs at z = 2
• The importance of galaxy interactions in triggering type II quasar activity
• The environments of luminous radio galaxies and type-2 quasars
• The merger fraction of post-starburst galaxies in UNIONS
• The Growth of Black Holes: Insights From Obscured Active Galaxies
• Interacting galaxies in the IllustrisTNG simulations -- IV: Enhanced Supermassive Black Hole Accretion Rates in Post-Merger Galaxies
• Towards a comprehensive picture of powerful quasars, their host galaxies and quasar winds at z ~ 0.5
• The dust masses of powerful radio galaxies: clues to the triggering of their activity
• Testing the Evolutionary Link between Type 1 and Type 2 Quasars with Measurements of the Interstellar Medium
• Atomic gas fractions in active galactic nucleus host galaxies
• A significant excess in major merger rate for AGNs with the highest Eddington ratios at z<0.2
• The Diverse Morphology, Stellar Population, and Black Hole Scaling Relations of the Host Galaxies of Nearby Quasars
• The Role of Major Mergers and Nuclear Star Formation in Nearby Obscured Quasars
• Do AGN triggering mechanisms vary with radio power? II. The importance of mergers as a function of radio power and optical luminosity
• Empirical optical k-Corrections for redshifts <= 0.7
• Do AGN triggering mechanisms vary with radio power? I.Optical morphologies of radio-intermediate HERGs
• The host galaxies of luminous type 2 AGN at $z\sim$0.3-0.4
• Quantifying the cool ISM in radio AGNs: evidence for late-time re-triggering by galaxy mergers and interactions
• QSO Lifetimes

Cited by in corpus (23)

• JWST MIRI reveals the diversity of nuclear mid-infrared spectra of nearby type-2 quasars
• QSOFEED: The relationship between star formation and AGN Feedback
• Investigating the impact of quasar-driven outflows on galaxies at redshift 0.3-0.4
• Dynamics and spin alignment in massive, gravito-turbulent circumbinary discs around supermassive black hole binaries
• Unveiling the warm molecular outflow component of type-2 quasars with SINFONI
• Obscured AGN enhancement in galaxy pairs at cosmic noon: evidence from a probabilistic treatment of photometric redshifts
• Molecular gas excitation and outflow properties of obscured quasars at z$\sim$0.1
• WEAVE First Light Observations: Origin and Dynamics of the Shock Front in Stephan's Quintet
• Galaxy Mergers in the Epoch of Reionization II: Major Merger-Triggered Star Formation and AGN Activities at $z=$ 4.5-8.5
• JWST + ALMA ubiquitously discover companion systems within $\lesssim 18$kpc around four $z$$\approx$3.5 luminous radio-loud AGN
• XXL-HSC: Host properties of X-ray detected AGNs in XXL clusters
• Identifying type II quasars at intermediate redshift with few-shot learning photometric classification
• A post-merger enhancement only in star-forming Type 2 Seyfert galaxies: the deep learning view
• UNIONS Optical Identifications for VLASS Radio Sources in the Euclid Sky (UNVEIL) I. A Catalog of ~146,000 Radio Galaxies up to z~5
• Compact Steep Spectrum Radio Sources with Enhanced Star Formation are Smaller than $10$kpc
• A study of interacting galaxies from the Arp-Madore Catalogue: Triggering of star formation and nuclear activity
• Silicate emission in a type-2 quasar: JWST/MIRI constraints on torus geometry and radiative feedback
• Dust-obscured Galaxies with Broken Power-law Spectral Energy Distributions Discovered by UNIONS
• Exploring the physical properties of Type II Quasar candidates at intermediate redshifts with CIGALE
• Host galaxy and nuclear properties of IR-selected AGNs with and without outflow signatures
• Extended coronal line emission and new clues to a possible dual AGN in the merger J1356+1026
• Kinematic misalignment as a driver of black hole activity in galaxies with external interactions
• QSOFEED: Investigating warm molecular, low- and high-ionization atomic gas in six type-2 quasars with GTC/EMIR