No Arabic abstract
Context: Galaxy interactions and mergers can lead to supermassive black hole (SMBH) binaries which become active galactic nuclei (AGN) pairs when the SMBHs start accreting mass. If there is a third galaxy involved in the interaction, then a triple AGN system can form. Aims: Our goal is to investigate the nature of the nuclear emission from the galaxies in the interacting pair NGC,7733--NGC,7734 using archival VLT/MUSE Integral field spectrograph data and study its relation to the stellar mass distribution traced by near-infrared (NIR) observations from the South African Astronomical Observatory (SAAO). Methods:We conducted near-infrared observations using the SAAO and identified the morphological properties of bulges in each galaxy. We used MUSE data to obtain a set of ionized emission lines from each galaxy and studied the ionization mechanism. We also examined the relation of the galaxy pair with any nearby companions with Far-UV observations using the UVIT. Conclusions: The emission line analysis from the central regions of NGC,7733 and NGC,7734 show Seyfert and LINER type AGN activity. The galaxy pair NGC,7733--34 also shows evidence of a third component, which has Seyfert-like emission. Hence, the galaxy pair NGC,7733--34 forms a triple AGN system. We also detected an Extended Narrow-line region (ENLR) associated with the nucleus of NGC,7733.
Galaxy mergers are key events in galaxy evolution, often causing massive starbursts and fueling active galactic nuclei (AGN). In these highly dynamic systems, it is not yet precisely known how much starbursts and AGN respectively contribute to the total luminosity, at what interaction stages they occur, and how long they persist. Here we estimate the fraction of the bolometric infrared (IR) luminosity that can be attributed to AGN by measuring and modeling the full ultraviolet to far-infrared spectral energy distributions (SEDs) in up to 33 broad bands for 24 merging galaxies with the Code for Investigating Galaxy Emission. In addition to a sample of 12 confirmed AGN in late-stage mergers, found in the $Infrared$ $Array$ $Satellite$ Revised Bright Galaxy Sample or Faint Source Catalog, our sample includes a comparison sample of 12 galaxy mergers from the $Spitzer$ Interacting Galaxies Survey, mostly early-stage. We perform identical SED modeling of simulated mergers to validate our methods, and we supplement the SED data with mid-IR spectra of diagnostic lines obtained with $Spitzer$ InfraRed Spectrograph. The estimated AGN contributions to the IR luminosities vary from system to system from 0% up to 91% but are significantly greater in the later-stage, more luminous mergers, consistent with what is known about galaxy evolution and AGN triggering.
NGC6240 is a well-studied nearby galaxy system in the process of merging. Based on optical, X-ray, and radio observations, it is thought to harbor two active nuclei We carried out a detailed optical 3D spectroscopic study to investigate the inner region of this system in connection with existing MERLIN and VLBA data. We observed NGC6240 with very high spatial resolution using the MUSE instrument in the Narrow-Field Mode with the four-laser GALACSI adaptive optics system on the ESO VLT under seeing conditions of 0.49 arcsec. Our 3D spectra cover the wavelength range from 4725 to 9350 AA at a spatial resolution of ~75 mas. We report the discovery of three nuclei in the final state of merging within a region of only 1 kpc in the NGC6240 system.Thanks to MUSE we are able to show that the formerly unresolved southern component actually consists of two distinct nuclei separated by only 198 pc. In combination with Gaia data we reach an absolute positional accuracy of only 30 mas that is essential to compare optical spectra with MERLIN and VLBA radio positions. The verification and detailed study of a system with three nuclei, two of which are active and each with a mass in excess of $9times10^{7} M_{odot}$, is of great importance for the understanding of hierarchical galaxy formation via merging processes since multiple mergers lead to a faster evolution of massive galaxies in comparison to binary mergers. So far it has been suggested that the formation of galactic nuclei with multiple supermassive black holes (SMBHs) is expected to be rare in the local universe.Triple massive black hole systems might be of fundamental importance for the coalescence of massive black hole binaries in less than a Hubble time leading to the loudest sources of gravitational waves in the millihertz regime.
Low mass galaxy cluster systems and groups play an essential role in upcoming cosmological studies such as those to be carried out with eROSITA. Though the effects of active galactic nuclei (AGNs) and merging processes are of special importance to quantify biases like selection effects or deviations from hydrostatic equilibrium, they are poorly understood on the galaxy group scale. We present an analysis of recent deep Chandra and XMM-Newton integrations of NGC741, which provides an excellent example of a group with multiple concurrent phenomena: both an old central radio galaxy and a spectacular infalling head-tail source, strongly-bent jets, a 100kpc radio trail, intriguing narrow X-ray filaments, and gas sloshing features. Supported principally by X-ray and radio continuum data, we address the merging history of the group, the nature of the X-ray filaments, the extent of gas stripping from NGC742, the character of cavities in the group, and the roles of the central AGN and infalling galaxy in heating the intra-group medium.
We present a combined morphological and X-ray analysis of Was 49, an isolated, dual AGN system notable for the presence of a dominant AGN Was 49b in the disk of the primary galaxy Was 49a, at a projected radial distance of 8 kpc from the nucleus. Using X-ray data from Chandra, NuSTAR, and Swift, we find that this AGN has a bolometric luminosity of L_bol ~ 2 x 10^45 erg/s, with a black hole mass of M_BH=1.3^{+2.9}_{-0.9} x 10^8 M_Sol. Despite its large mass, our analysis of optical data from the Discovery Channel Telescope shows that the supermassive black hole is hosted by a stellar counterpart with a mass of only 5.6^{+4.9}_{-2.6} x 10^9 M_Sol, making the SMBH potentially larger than expected from SMBH-galaxy scaling relations, and the stellar counterpart exhibits a morphology that is consistent with dwarf elliptical galaxies. Our analysis of the system in the r and K bands indicates that Was 49 is a minor merger, with a mass ratio of Was 49a to Was 49b between 1:7 and 1:15. This is in contrast with findings that the most luminous merger-triggered AGNs are found in major mergers, and that minor mergers predominantly enhance AGN activity in the primary galaxy.
We present results from GMRT and Chandra observations of the NGC 1550 galaxy group. Although previously thought of as relaxed, we show evidence that gas sloshing and active galactic nucleus (AGN) heating have affected the structure of the system. The 610 and 235 MHz radio images show an asymmetric jet-lobe structure with a total size of $sim$33 kpc, with a sharp kink at the base of the more extended western jet, and bending of the shorter eastern jet as it enters the lobe. The 235$-$610 MHz spectral index map shows that both radio lobes have steep spectral indices ($alpha_{235}^{610}geq-1.5$) indicating the presence of an old electron population. The X-ray images reveal an asymmetric structure in the hot gas correlated with the radio structure, as well as potential cavities coincident with the radio lobes, with rims and arms of gas that may have been uplifted by the cavity expansion. The X-ray residual map reveals an arc shaped structure to the east that resembles a sloshing cold front. Radio spectral analysis suggests a radiative age of about 33 Myr for the source, comparable to the sloshing timescale and dynamical estimates of the age of the lobes. An estimate of the mechanical energy required to inflate the cavities suggests that the AGN of NGC 1550 is capable of balancing radiative losses from the intragroup medium (IGM) and preventing excessive cooling, providing that the AGN jets are efficiently coupled to the IGM gas. In conclusion, we find evidence of sloshing motions from both radio and X-ray structures, suggesting that NGC 1550 was perturbed by a minor merger or infalling galaxy about 33 Myr ago.