A KILOPARSEC-SCALE BINARY ACTIVE GALACTIC NUCLEUS CONFIRMED BY THE EXPANDED VERY LARGE ARRAY

Journal Article · Thu Oct 20 00:00:00 EDT 2011 · Astrophysical Journal Letters

DOI:https://doi.org/10.1088/2041-8205/740/2/L44· OSTI ID:21565372

Hai, Fu; Djorgovski, S G; Riechers, Dominik A ^[1]; Zhiyu, Zhang ^[2]; Assef, Roberto J ^[3]; Stockton, Alan ^[4]; Myers, Adam D ^[5]; Lin, Yan ^[6]; Wrobel, J M ^[7]

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1. Astronomy Department, California Institute of Technology, MS 249-17, Pasadena, CA 91125 (United States)
2. Purple Mountain Observatory, CAS, 2 West Beijing Road, Nanjing, 210008 (China)
3. Jet Propulsion Laboratory, California Institute of Technology, MS 169-530, 4800 Oak Grove Dr., Pasadena, CA 91109 (United States)
4. Institute for Astronomy, University of Hawaii, 2680 Woodlawn Drive, Honolulu, HI 96822 (United States)
5. Department of Physics and Astronomy, University of Wyoming, Laramie, WY 82071 (United States)
6. Spitzer Science Center, California Institute of Technology, MS 220-06, Pasadena, CA 91125 (United States)
7. National Radio Astronomy Observatory, P.O. Box O, Socorro, NM 87801 (United States)

We report the confirmation of a kiloparsec-scale binary active galactic nucleus (AGN) with high-resolution radio images from the Expanded Very Large Array (EVLA). SDSS J150243.1+111557 is a double-peaked [O III] AGN at z = 0.39 selected from the Sloan Digital Sky Survey. Our previous near-infrared adaptive optics imaging reveals two nuclei separated by 1.''4 (7.4 kpc), and our optical integral-field spectroscopy suggests that they are a type-1-type-2 AGN pair. However, these data alone cannot rule out the single AGN scenario where the narrow emission-line region associated with the secondary is photoionized by the broad-line AGN in the primary. Our new EVLA images at 1.4, 5.0, and 8.5 GHz show two steep-spectrum compact radio sources spatially coincident with the optical nuclei. The radio power of the type-2 AGN is an order-of-magnitude in excess of star-forming galaxies with similar extinction-corrected [O II] {lambda}3727 luminosities, indicating that the radio emission is powered by accretion. Therefore, SDSS J150243.1+111557 is one of the few confirmed kiloparsec-scale binary AGN systems. Spectral energy distribution modeling shows that SDSS J150243.1+111557 is a merger of two {approx}10{sup 11} M{sub sun} galaxies. With both black hole masses around 10{sup 8} M{sub sun}, the AGNs are accreting at {approx}10 times below the Eddington limit.

• OSTI ID: 21565372
• Journal Information: Astrophysical Journal Letters, Vol. 740, Issue 2; Other Information: DOI: 10.1088/2041-8205/740/2/L44; ISSN 2041-8205
• Country of Publication: United States
• Language: English

Related Subjects

79 ASTROPHYSICS
COSMOLOGY AND ASTRONOMY
BLACK HOLES
COSMIC RADIO SOURCES
EMISSION
GALAXY NUCLEI
IMAGES
MASS