CHANDRA OBSERVATIONS OF A 1.9 kpc SEPARATION DOUBLE X-RAY SOURCE IN A CANDIDATE DUAL ACTIVE GALACTIC NUCLEUS GALAXY AT z = 0.16

Journal Article · Wed Aug 10 04:00:00 EDT 2011 · Astrophysical Journal Letters

DOI:https://doi.org/10.1088/2041-8205/737/1/L19· OSTI ID:21562480

Comerford, Julia M; Pooley, David ^[1]; Gerke, Brian F; Madejski, Greg M ^[2]

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1. Astronomy Department, University of Texas at Austin, Austin, TX 78712 (United States)
2. Kavli Institute for Particle Astrophysics and Cosmology, M/S 29, Stanford Linear Accelerator Center, 2575 Sand Hill Road, Menlo Park, CA 94725 (United States)

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] {lambda}5007 emission lines, with a line-of-sight velocity separation of 350 km s{sup -1}, 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 {sup -1}{sub 70} 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.

• OSTI ID: 21562480
• Journal Information: Astrophysical Journal Letters, Journal Name: Astrophysical Journal Letters Journal Issue: 1 Vol. 737; ISSN 2041-8205
• Country of Publication: United States
• Language: English

Related Subjects

79 ASTRONOMY AND ASTROPHYSICS
EMISSION
GALAXIES
GALAXY NUCLEI
RADIATION SOURCES
X-RAY SOURCES