Subscribe to the gold package and get unlimited access to Shamra Academy
Register a new userDiscovery of a dual AGN at z~3.3 with 20kpc separation
89
0
0.0
(
0
)
Ask ChatGPT about the research
No Arabic abstract
A prediction of the current paradigm of the hierarchical assembly of galaxies is the presence of supermassive dual black holes at separations of a few kpc or less. In this context, we report the detection of a narrow-line emitter within the extended LyA nebula (~120kpc diameter) of the luminous radio-quiet quasi-stellar object (QSO) LBQS0302-0019 at z=3.286. We identify several high-ionization narrow emission lines (HeII, CIV, CIII]) associated with this point-like source, which we have named Jil, which is only ~20kpc (2.9) away from the QSO in projection. Emission-line diagnostics confirm that the source is likely powered by photoionization of an obscured active galactic nucleus (AGN) three orders of magnitude fainter than the QSO. The system represents the tightest unobscured/obscured dual AGN currently known at z>3, highlighting the power of MUSE to detect these elusive systems.
rate research
Read More
Context. Searching for high-redshift galaxies is a field of intense activity in modern observational cosmology that will continue to grow with future ground-based and sky observatories. Over the last few years, a lot has been learned about the high-z Universe. Aims. Despite extensive Ly-alpha Blobs (LAB) surveys from low to high redshifts, giant LABs over 100 kpc have been found mostly at z~2-4. This redshift range is coincident with the transition epoch of galactic gas-circulation processes from inflows to outflows at z~2.5-3. This suggests that the formation of giant LABs may be related to a combination of gas inflows and outflows. Their extreme youth makes them interesting objects in the study of galaxy formation as they provide insight into some of the youngest known highly star forming galaxies, with only modest time investments using ground-based telescopes. Methods. Systematic narrow-band Ly-alpha nebula surveys are ongoing, but they are limited in their covered redshift range and their comoving volume. This poses a significant problem when searching for such rare sources. To address this problem, we developed a systematic searching tool, ATACAMA (A Tool for seArChing for lArge LyMan Alpha nebulae) designed to find large Ly-alpha nebulae at any redshift within deep multi-wavelength broad-band imaging. Results. We identified a Ly-alpha nebula candidate at zphot~3.3 covering an isophotal area of 29.4sq.arcsec. Its morphology shows a bright core and a faint core which coincides with the morphology of previously known Ly-alpha blobs. A first estimation of the Ly-alpha equivalent width and line flux agree with the values from the study led by several groups.
Targeted searches for dual active galactic nuclei (AGN), with separations 1 -- 10 kpc, have yielded relatively few successes. A recent pilot survey by Satyapal et al. has demonstrated that mid-infrared (mid-IR) pre-selection has the potential to significantly improve the success rate for dual AGN confirmation in late stage galaxy mergers. In this paper, we combine mid-IR selection with spatially resolved optical AGN diagnostics from the Mapping Nearby Galaxies at Apache Point Observatory (MaNGA) survey to identify a candidate dual AGN in the late stage major galaxy merger SDSS J140737.17+442856.2 at z=0.143. The nature of the dual AGN is confirmed with Chandra X-ray observations that identify two hard X-ray point sources with intrinsic (corrected for absorption) 2-10 keV luminosities of 4*10^41 and 3.5*10^43 erg/s separated by 8.3 kpc. The neutral hydrogen absorption (~10^22 cm^-2) towards the two AGN is lower than in duals selected solely on their mid-IR colours, indicating that strategies that combine optical and mid-IR diagnostics may complement techniques that identify the highly obscured dual phase, such as at high X-ray energies or mid-IR only.
Radio Active Galactic Nuclei (RAGNs) are mainly found in dense structures (i.e., clusters/groups) at redshifts of z$<$2 and are commonly used to detect protoclusters at higher redshift. Here, we attempt to study the host and environmental properties of two relatively faint ($mathrm L_mathrm{1.4GHz} sim10^{25}$ W Hz$^{-1}$) RAGNs in a known protocluster at z=3.3 in the PCl J0227-0421 field, detected using the latest radio observation obtained as part of the Observations of Redshift Evolution in Large-Scale Environments (ORELSE) Survey. Using new spectroscopic observations obtained from Keck/MOSFIRE as part of the Charting Cluster Construction with the VIMOS Ultra-Deep Survey (VUDS) and ORELSE (C3VO) survey and previous spectroscopic data obtained as part of the VIMOS-VLT Deep Survey (VVDS) and VUDS, we revise the three-dimensional overdensity field around this protocluster. The protocluster is embedded in a large scale overdensity protostructure. This protostructure has an estimated total mass of $sim$2.6$times10^{15} M_odot$ and contains several overdensity peaks. Both RAGNs are hosted by very bright and massive galaxies, while their hosts show extreme differences color, indicating that they have different ages and are in different evolutionary stages. Furthermore, we find that they are not in the most locally dense parts of the protostructure, but are fairly close to the centers of their parent overdensity peaks. We propose a scenario where merging might already have happened in both cases, which lowered the local density of their surrounding area and boosted their stellar mass. This work is the first time that two RAGNs at low luminosity have been found and studied within a high redshift protostructure.
The X-ray source CXOXBJ142607.6+353351 (CXOJ1426+35), which was identified in a 172 ks Chandra image in the Bootes field, shows double-peaked rest-frame optical/UV emission lines, separated by 0.69 (5.5 kpc) in the spatial dimension and by 690 km s^-1 in the velocity dimension. The high excitation lines and emission line ratios indicate both systems are ionized by an AGN continuum, and the double-peaked profile resembles that of candidate dual AGN. At a redshift of z=1.175, this source is the highest redshift candidate dual AGN yet identified. However, many sources have similar emission line profiles for which other interpretations are favored. We have analyzed the substantial archival data available in this field, as well as acquired near-infrared (NIR) adaptive optics (AO) imaging and NIR slit spectroscopy. The X-ray spectrum is hard, implying a column density of several 10^23 cm^-2. Though heavily obscured, the source is also one of the brightest in the field, with an absorption-corrected 2-10 keV luminosity of ~10^45 erg s^-1. Outflows driven by an accretion disk may produce the double-peaked lines if the central engine accretes near the Eddington limit. However, we may be seeing the narrow line regions of two AGN following a galactic merger. While the AO image reveals only a single source, a second AGN would easily be obscured by the significant extinction inferred from the X-ray data. Understanding the physical processes producing the complex emission line profiles seen in CXOJ1426+35 and related sources is important for interpreting the growing population of dual AGN candidates.
Using galaxies as background light sources to map the Lya absorption lines is a novel approach to study Damped Lya Absorbers (DLAs). We report the discovery of an intervening z = 3.335 +- 0.007 DLA along a galaxy sight-line identified among 80 Lyman Break Galaxy (LBG) spectra obtained with our Very Large Telescope/Visible Multi-Object Spectrograph survey in the SSA22 field. The measured DLA neutral hydrogen (HI) column density is log (NHI/cm^{-2}) = 21.68 +- 0.17. The DLA covering fraction over the extended background LBG is > 70% (2 sigma), yielding a conservative constraint on the DLA area of > 1 kpc^2. Our search for a counterpart galaxy hosting this DLA concludes that there is no counterpart galaxy with star formation rate (SFR) larger than a few Msun yr^{-1}, ruling out an unobscured violent star formation in the DLA gas cloud. We also rule out the possibility that the host galaxy of the DLA is a passive galaxy with Mstar > 5 x 10^{10} Msun or a heavily dust-obscured galaxy with E(B-V) > 2. The DLA may coincide with a large-scale overdensity of the spectroscopic LBGs. The occurrence rate of the DLA is compatible with that of DLAs found in QSO sight-lines.
Log in to be able to interact and post comments
comments
Fetching comments
Sign in to be able to follow your search criteria
