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NuSTAR Observations of Four Mid-IR–Selected Dual AGN Candidates in Galaxy Mergers.
- Source :
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Astrophysical Journal . 9/10/2023, Vol. 954 Issue 2, p1-16. 16p. - Publication Year :
- 2023
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Abstract
- Mergers of galaxies are a ubiquitous phenomenon in the universe and represent a natural consequence of the "bottom-up" mass accumulation and galaxy evolution cosmological paradigm. It is generally accepted that the peak of active galactic nucleus (AGN) accretion activity occurs at nuclear separations of ≲10 kpc for major mergers. Here we present new NuSTAR and XMM-Newton observations for a subsample of mid-IR preselected dual AGN candidates in an effort to better constrain the column densities along the line of sight (LOS) for each system. Only one dual AGN candidate, J0841+0101, is detected as a single, unresolved source in the XMM-Newton and NuSTAR imaging, while the remaining three dual AGN candidates, J0122+0100, J1221+1137, and J1306+0735, are not detected with NuSTAR; if these nondetections are due to obscuration alone, these systems are consistent with being absorbed by column densities of log(N H/cm−2) ≥ 24.9, 24.6, and 24.3, which are roughly consistent with previously inferred column densities in these merging systems. In the case of J0841+0101, the analysis of the 0.3–30 keV spectra reveal an LOS column density of N H ≳ 1024 cm−2, significantly larger than the column densities previously reported for this system and demonstrating the importance of the higher signal-to-noise ratio XMM-Newton spectra and access to the >10 keV energies via NuSTAR. Though it is unclear if J0841+0101 truly hosts a dual AGN, these results are in agreement with the high obscuring columns expected in AGNs in late-stage mergers. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]
Details
- Language :
- English
- ISSN :
- 0004637X
- Volume :
- 954
- Issue :
- 2
- Database :
- Academic Search Index
- Journal :
- Astrophysical Journal
- Publication Type :
- Academic Journal
- Accession number :
- 170902197
- Full Text :
- https://doi.org/10.3847/1538-4357/ace2c0