Resolving Dual Active Galactic Nuclei with ∼100 pc separation in MCG-03-34-64

Résumé fourni par la source

Abstract Galaxy mergers are expected to play a key role in the evolution of galaxies and their central supermassive black holes (SMBHs) (Springel+2005, Colpi+2011). An observational signature of this phenomenon is the detection of dual active galactic nuclei (AGNs) amongst merging systems, as predicted by cosmological models of structure formation (Colpi+2014, Blumenthal+2018). Dual AGNs at sub-kiloparsec-scale separation are the precursors of merging black hole binaries, an important source of gravitational waves (e.g., Izquierdo-villalba+2021), but a paucity of such systems have been confirmed to date by direct imaging, while other similar claims have been strongly disputed (Koss+2015, Veres+2021). Here we report the serendipitous multiwavelength discovery of a dual black hole system with a separation of ~100 pc, in the gas-rich luminous infrared galaxy MCG-03-34-64 (z=0.016). Chandra/ACIS imaging shows two spatially-resolved peaks of equal intensity in the neutral Fe Kα emission line, consistent with a dual SMBH, which is supported by Hubble Space Telescope (HST), and Very Large Array (VLA) observations. The separation of ~100 pc is the closest dual AGN separation reported to date with spatially-resolved, multiwavelength observations.

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