A Systematic Approach to the Discoveries of Dual Supermassive Black Holes

Details A Systematic Approach to the Discoveries of Dual Supermassive Black Holes A Systematic Approach to the Discoveries of Dual Supermassive Black Holes

Jan 2012

adsabs.harvard.edu/cgi-bin/nph-data_query?bibcode=2012aas...21910703c&link_type=abstract

American Astronomical Society, AAS Meeting #219, #107.03

Astronomy and Astrophysics

Astronomy

Scientific paper

Dual supermassive black holes (SMBHs) with kpc-scale separations are an expected consequence of galaxy mergers, yet surprisingly few dual SMBHs have been observed to date. Dual SMBHs are observable when they power dual active galactic nuclei (AGN). Galaxies with double-peaked AGN emission lines in the Sloan Digital Sky Survey are plausible dual AGN candidates, but their double-peaked profiles could also be the result of small-scale gas kinematics or AGN-driven outflows and jets. To help distinguish between these scenarios, we obtain spatial profiles of the AGN emission via follow-up longslit spectroscopy. Our results both narrow the list of possible physical mechanisms producing the double AGN components, and suggest several observational criteria for selecting the most promising dual AGN candidates. Our follow-up Chandra observations of these promising candidates show which are bona fide dual AGN. This systematic approach to identifying dual AGN will enable, for the first time, the assembly of a large observational catalog of dual SMBHs, which will provide observational constraints on the galaxy merger rate, SMBH growth, and SMBH coalescence.
This work is supported by NSF grant AST-1102525.

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