Journal
ASTROPHYSICAL JOURNAL LETTERS
Volume 737, Issue 1, Pages -Publisher
IOP PUBLISHING LTD
DOI: 10.1088/2041-8205/737/1/L19
Keywords
galaxies: active; galaxies: individual (SDSS J171544.05+600835.7); galaxies: interactions; galaxies: nuclei
Categories
Funding
- W.J. McDonald Postdoctoral Fellowship
- College of Natural Sciences
- Department of Astronomy at the University of Texas at Austin
- McDonald Observatory
- U.S. Department of Energy [DE-AC02-76SF00515]
- Direct For Mathematical & Physical Scien
- Division Of Astronomical Sciences [1102525] Funding Source: National Science Foundation
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We report Chandra observations of a double X-ray source in the z = 0.1569 galaxy SDSS J171544.05+600835.7. The galaxy was initially identified as a dual active galactic nucleus (AGN) candidate based on the double-peaked [O III] lambda 5007 emission lines, with a line-of-sight velocity separation of 350 km s(-1), in its Sloan Digital Sky Survey spectrum. We used the Kast Spectrograph at Lick Observatory to obtain two long-slit spectra of the galaxy at two different position angles, which reveal that the two Type 2 AGN emission components have not only a velocity offset, but also a projected spatial offset of 1.9 h(70)(-1) kpc on the sky. Chandra/ACIS observations of two X-ray sources with the same spatial offset and orientation as the optical emission suggest that the galaxy most likely contains Compton-thick dual AGNs, although the observations could also be explained by AGN jets. Deeper X-ray observations that reveal Fe K lines, if present, would distinguish between the two scenarios. The observations of a double X-ray source in SDSS J171544.05+600835.7 are a proof of concept for a new, systematic detection method that selects promising dual AGN candidates from ground-based spectroscopy that exhibits both velocity and spatial offsets in the AGN emission features.
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