Unveiling the population of dual and lensed active galactic nuclei at sub-arcsec separations

Mannucci, F.; Pancino, E.; Belfiore, Francesco; Cicone, C.; Cresci, G.; Lusso, Elisabeta; Marasco, Antonino; Marconi, A.; Nardini, E.; Pinna, Enrico; Severgnini, P.; Saracco, P.; Tozzi, G.; Yeh, Sherry

doi:10.1038/s41550-022-01761-5

Cited by 28 publications

(22 citation statements)

References 51 publications

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“…In particular, only four systems with separations below 5 kpc have been confirmed at z > 0.5 (Glikman et al, in prep. ;Junkkarinen et al 2001;Chen et al 2022;Mannucci et al 2022). At lower redshift, a number of systems at that separation are known (Silverman et al 2020;Tang et al 2021;Lackner et al 2014;Stemo et al 2021) and, in the local Universe, double (Voggel et al 2022) and triple systems (Kollatschny et al 2020) with subkiloparsec separation are well studied.…”

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

“…At lower redshift, a number of systems at that separation are known (Silverman et al 2020;Tang et al 2021;Lackner et al 2014;Stemo et al 2021) and, in the local Universe, double (Voggel et al 2022) and triple systems (Kollatschny et al 2020) with subkiloparsec separation are well studied. However, there is a shortage of known close systems especially at intermediate and high redshifts, when galaxy mergers are more common (see De Rosa et al 2019 andMannucci et al 2022 andreferences therein). This lack is due to the relatively low efficiency of the current selection techniques for subarcsec separation systems (Rubinur et al 2019).…”

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

“…Thanks to its high spatial resolution and full sky coverage, the Gaia satellite is revolutionizing the field (e.g., Lemon et al 2019;Shen et al 2021;Chen et al 2022;Lemon et al 2022). In particular, the Gaia multi-peak (GMP) method (Mannucci et al 2022) allows us to select large numbers of dual systems with separations down to ∼0.15 by searching for multiple peaks in the light profile of the Gaia sources. Mannucci et al (2022) tested the efficiency of this method on 31 GMP-selected systems with HST (archival images of 26 systems) and LBT (newly obtained high-resolution observations of five systems) images.…”

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

“…In particular, the Gaia multi-peak (GMP) method (Mannucci et al 2022) allows us to select large numbers of dual systems with separations down to ∼0.15 by searching for multiple peaks in the light profile of the Gaia sources. Mannucci et al (2022) tested the efficiency of this method on 31 GMP-selected systems with HST (archival images of 26 systems) and LBT (newly obtained high-resolution observations of five systems) images. All of these systems show multiple compact sources with subarcsec resolution, confirming that this novel technique can be extremely efficient in selecting a sample of quasi-stellar objects with multiple components.…”

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

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New multiple AGN systems with subarcsec separation: Confirmation of candidates selected via the novel GMP method

Mannucci¹,

Yeh²,

Amiri³

et al. 2023

A&A

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The existence of multiple active galactic nuclei (AGNs) at small projected distances on the sky is due to either the presence of multiple, inspiraling supermassive black holes, or to gravitational lensing of a single AGN. Both phenomena allow us to address important astrophysical and cosmological questions. However, few kiloparsec-separation multiple AGNs are currently known. Recently, the newly developed Gaia multi-peak (GMP) method provided numerous new candidate members of these populations. We present spatially resolved, integral-field spectroscopy of a sample of four GMP-selected multiple AGN candidates. In all of these systems, we detect two or more components with subarcsec separations. We find that two of the systems are dual AGNs, one is either an intrinsic triple or a lensed dual AGN, while the last system is a chance alignment of an AGN and a star. Our observations double the number of confirmed multiple AGNs at projected separations below 7 kpc at z > 0.5, present the first detection of a possible triple AGN in a single galaxy at z > 0.5, and successfully test the GMP method as a novel technique to discover previously unknown multiple AGNs.

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Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

See 2 more Smart Citations

New multiple AGN systems with subarcsec separation: Confirmation of candidates selected via the novel GMP method

Mannucci¹,

Yeh²,

Amiri³

et al. 2023

A&A

Self Cite

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show abstract

“…A more important issue is that the completeness of these multiples is much lower and harder to quantify; thus, we ignore this higher-order multiple population. Some quasars with only one matched Gaia source may still be a subarcsecond quasar pair, which can be recovered with other approaches using additional Gaia parameters (e.g., Shen et al 2019;Hwang et al 2020;Chen et al 2022d;Makarov & Secrest 2022;Mannucci et al 2022), but are not covered here; instead, their contribution to the pair statistics is estimated through the completeness analysis (Section 2.3).…”

Section: Datamentioning

confidence: 99%

Statistics of Galactic-scale Quasar Pairs at Cosmic Noon

Shen

Hwang

Oguri

et al. 2023

ApJ

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The statistics of galactic-scale quasar pairs can elucidate our understanding of the dynamical evolution of supermassive black hole (SMBH) pairs, the duty cycles of quasar activity in mergers, or even the nature of dark matter, but they have been challenging to measure at cosmic noon, the prime epoch of massive galaxy and SMBH formation. Here we measure a double quasar fraction of ∼6.2 ± 0.5 × 10−4 integrated over ∼0.″3–3″ separations (projected physical separations of ∼3–30 kpc at z ∼ 2) in luminous (L bol > 1045.8 erg s−1) unobscured quasars at 1.5 < z < 3.5 using Gaia EDR3-resolved pairs around SDSS DR16 quasars. The measurement was based on a sample of 60 Gaia-resolved double quasars (out of 487 Gaia pairs dominated by quasar+star superpositions) at these separations, corrected for pair completeness in Gaia, which we quantify as functions of pair separation, magnitude of the primary, and magnitude contrast. The double quasar fraction increases toward smaller separations by a factor of ∼5 over these scales. The division between physical quasar pairs and lensed quasars in our sample is currently unknown, requiring dedicated follow-up observations (in particular, deep, subarcsecond-resolution IR imaging for the closest pairs). Intriguingly, at this point, the observed pair statistics are in rough agreement with theoretical predictions both for the lensed quasar population in mock catalogs and for dual quasars in cosmological hydrodynamic simulations. Upcoming wide-field imaging/spectroscopic space missions such as Euclid, CSST, and Roman, combined with targeted follow-up observations, will conclusively measure the abundances and host galaxy properties of galactic-scale quasar pairs, offset AGNs, and subarcsecond lensed quasars across cosmic time.

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Ultraweak Intermolecular Interactions in Chirogenesis from Noncharged CPL‐/CD‐Silent Molecules, Oligomers, and Polymers Endowed with Noncharged Chiral Terpenes, Mono‐/Polysaccharides, and Helical Polysilanes

Fujiki,

Jalilah,

Koe

et al. 2024

Chiral Luminescence

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Unveiling the population of dual and lensed active galactic nuclei at sub-arcsec separations

Cited by 28 publications

References 51 publications

New multiple AGN systems with subarcsec separation: Confirmation of candidates selected via the novel GMP method

New multiple AGN systems with subarcsec separation: Confirmation of candidates selected via the novel GMP method

Statistics of Galactic-scale Quasar Pairs at Cosmic Noon

Ultraweak Intermolecular Interactions in Chirogenesis from Noncharged CPL‐/CD‐Silent Molecules, Oligomers, and Polymers Endowed with Noncharged Chiral Terpenes, Mono‐/Polysaccharides, and Helical Polysilanes

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