A close quasar pair in a disk–disk galaxy merger at z = 2.17

Yu-Ching Chen, Xin Liu (), Adi Foord, Yue Shen, Masamune Oguri, Nianyi Chen, Tiziana Matteo, Miguel Holgado, Hsiang-Chih Hwang and Nadia Zakamska
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Yu-Ching Chen: University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign
Xin Liu: University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign
Adi Foord: Stanford University
Yue Shen: University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign
Masamune Oguri: Chiba University
Nianyi Chen: Carnegie Mellon University
Tiziana Matteo: Carnegie Mellon University
Miguel Holgado: Carnegie Mellon University
Hsiang-Chih Hwang: Institute for Advanced Study
Nadia Zakamska: Johns Hopkins University

Nature, 2023, vol. 616, issue 7955, 45-49

Abstract: Abstract Galaxy mergers produce pairs of supermassive black holes (SMBHs), which may be witnessed as dual quasars if both SMBHs are rapidly accreting. The kiloparsec (kpc)-scale separation represents a physical regime sufficiently close for merger-induced effects to be important1 yet wide enough to be directly resolvable with the facilities currently available. Whereas many kpc-scale, dual active galactic nuclei—the low-luminosity counterparts of quasars—have been observed in low-redshift mergers2, no unambiguous dual quasar is known at cosmic noon (z ≈ 2), the peak of global star formation and quasar activity3,4. Here we report multiwavelength observations of Sloan Digital Sky Survey (SDSS) J0749 + 2255 as a kpc-scale, dual-quasar system hosted by a galaxy merger at cosmic noon (z = 2.17). We discover extended host galaxies associated with the much brighter compact quasar nuclei (separated by 0.46″ or 3.8 kpc) and low-surface-brightness tidal features as evidence for galactic interactions. Unlike its low-redshift and low-luminosity counterparts, SDSS J0749 + 2255 is hosted by massive compact disk-dominated galaxies. The apparent lack of stellar bulges and the fact that SDSS J0749 + 2255 already follows the local SMBH mass–host stellar mass relation, suggest that at least some SMBHs may have formed before their host stellar bulges. While still at kpc-scale separations where the host-galaxy gravitational potential dominates, the two SMBHs may evolve into a gravitationally bound binary system in around 0.22 Gyr.

Date: 2023
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DOI: 10.1038/s41586-023-05766-6

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