Buried AGNs in Advanced Mergers:Mid-infrared color selection as a dual AGN finder. Satyapal, S., Secrest, N. J., Ricci, C., Ellison, S. L., Rothberg, B., Blecha, L., Constantin, A., Gliozzi, M., McNulty, P., & Ferguson, J. ArXiv e-prints, 1707:arXiv:1707.03921, July, 2017. ![Buried AGNs in Advanced Mergers:Mid-infrared color selection as a dual AGN finder [link]](https://bibbase.org/img/filetypes/link.svg "link")
Paper abstract bibtex A direct consequence of hierarchical galaxy formation is the existence of dual supermassive black holes (SMBHs), which may be preferentially triggered as active galactic nuclei (AGN) during galaxy mergers. Despite decades of searching, however, dual AGNs are extremely rare, and most have been discovered serendipitously. Using the all-sky WISE survey, we identified a population of over 100 morphologically identified interacting galaxies or mergers that display red mid-infrared colors often associated in extragalactic sources with powerful AGNs. The vast majority of these advanced mergers are optically classified as star-forming galaxies suggesting that they may represent an obscured population of AGNs that cannot be found through optical studies. In this work, we present Chandra/ACIS observations and near-infrared spectra with the Large Binocular Telescope of six advanced mergers with projected pair separations less than \textasciitilde 10 kpc. The combined X-ray, near-infrared, and mid-infrared properties of these mergers provide confirmation that four out of the six mergers host at least one AGN, with four of the mergers possibly hosting dual AGNs with projected separations less than \textasciitilde10 kpc, despite showing no firm evidence for AGNs based on optical spectroscopic studies. Our results demonstrate that 1) optical studies miss a significant fraction of single and dual AGNs in advanced mergers, and 2) mid-infrared pre-selection is extremely effective in identifying dual AGN candidates in late-stage mergers. Our multi-wavelength observations suggest that the buried AGNs in these mergers are highly absorbed, with intrinsic column densities in excess of N_H \textgreater10\textasciicircum24cm\textasciicircum-2, consistent with hydrodynamic simulations.
@article{satyapal_buried_2017,
title = {Buried {AGNs} in {Advanced} {Mergers}:{Mid}-infrared color selection as a dual {AGN} finder},
volume = {1707},
shorttitle = {Buried {AGNs} in {Advanced} {Mergers}},
url = {http://adsabs.harvard.edu/abs/2017arXiv170703921S},
abstract = {A direct consequence of hierarchical galaxy formation is the existence
of dual supermassive black holes (SMBHs), which may be preferentially
triggered as active galactic nuclei (AGN) during galaxy mergers. Despite
decades of searching, however, dual AGNs are extremely rare, and most
have been discovered serendipitously. Using the all-sky WISE survey, we
identified a population of over 100 morphologically identified
interacting galaxies or mergers that display red mid-infrared colors
often associated in extragalactic sources with powerful AGNs. The vast
majority of these advanced mergers are optically classified as
star-forming galaxies suggesting that they may represent an obscured
population of AGNs that cannot be found through optical studies. In this
work, we present Chandra/ACIS observations and near-infrared spectra
with the Large Binocular Telescope of six advanced mergers with
projected pair separations less than {\textasciitilde} 10 kpc. The combined X-ray,
near-infrared, and mid-infrared properties of these mergers provide
confirmation that four out of the six mergers host at least one AGN,
with four of the mergers possibly hosting dual AGNs with projected
separations less than {\textasciitilde}10 kpc, despite showing no firm evidence for AGNs
based on optical spectroscopic studies. Our results demonstrate that 1)
optical studies miss a significant fraction of single and dual AGNs in
advanced mergers, and 2) mid-infrared pre-selection is extremely
effective in identifying dual AGN candidates in late-stage mergers. Our
multi-wavelength observations suggest that the buried AGNs in these
mergers are highly absorbed, with intrinsic column densities in excess
of N\_H {\textgreater}10{\textasciicircum}24cm{\textasciicircum}-2, consistent with hydrodynamic simulations.},
journal = {ArXiv e-prints},
author = {Satyapal, Shobita and Secrest, Nathan J. and Ricci, Claudio and Ellison, Sara L. and Rothberg, Barry and Blecha, Laura and Constantin, Anca and Gliozzi, Mario and McNulty, Paul and Ferguson, Jason},
month = jul,
year = {2017},
keywords = {Astrophysics - Astrophysics of Galaxies},
pages = {arXiv:1707.03921},
}
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Using the all-sky WISE survey, we identified a population of over 100 morphologically identified interacting galaxies or mergers that display red mid-infrared colors often associated in extragalactic sources with powerful AGNs. The vast majority of these advanced mergers are optically classified as star-forming galaxies suggesting that they may represent an obscured population of AGNs that cannot be found through optical studies. In this work, we present Chandra/ACIS observations and near-infrared spectra with the Large Binocular Telescope of six advanced mergers with projected pair separations less than \\textasciitilde 10 kpc. The combined X-ray, near-infrared, and mid-infrared properties of these mergers provide confirmation that four out of the six mergers host at least one AGN, with four of the mergers possibly hosting dual AGNs with projected separations less than \\textasciitilde10 kpc, despite showing no firm evidence for AGNs based on optical spectroscopic studies. Our results demonstrate that 1) optical studies miss a significant fraction of single and dual AGNs in advanced mergers, and 2) mid-infrared pre-selection is extremely effective in identifying dual AGN candidates in late-stage mergers. Our multi-wavelength observations suggest that the buried AGNs in these mergers are highly absorbed, with intrinsic column densities in excess of N_H \\textgreater10\\textasciicircum24cm\\textasciicircum-2, consistent with hydrodynamic simulations.","journal":"ArXiv e-prints","author":[{"propositions":[],"lastnames":["Satyapal"],"firstnames":["Shobita"],"suffixes":[]},{"propositions":[],"lastnames":["Secrest"],"firstnames":["Nathan","J."],"suffixes":[]},{"propositions":[],"lastnames":["Ricci"],"firstnames":["Claudio"],"suffixes":[]},{"propositions":[],"lastnames":["Ellison"],"firstnames":["Sara","L."],"suffixes":[]},{"propositions":[],"lastnames":["Rothberg"],"firstnames":["Barry"],"suffixes":[]},{"propositions":[],"lastnames":["Blecha"],"firstnames":["Laura"],"suffixes":[]},{"propositions":[],"lastnames":["Constantin"],"firstnames":["Anca"],"suffixes":[]},{"propositions":[],"lastnames":["Gliozzi"],"firstnames":["Mario"],"suffixes":[]},{"propositions":[],"lastnames":["McNulty"],"firstnames":["Paul"],"suffixes":[]},{"propositions":[],"lastnames":["Ferguson"],"firstnames":["Jason"],"suffixes":[]}],"month":"July","year":"2017","keywords":"Astrophysics - Astrophysics of Galaxies","pages":"arXiv:1707.03921","bibtex":"@article{satyapal_buried_2017,\n\ttitle = {Buried {AGNs} in {Advanced} {Mergers}:{Mid}-infrared color selection as a dual {AGN} finder},\n\tvolume = {1707},\n\tshorttitle = {Buried {AGNs} in {Advanced} {Mergers}},\n\turl = {http://adsabs.harvard.edu/abs/2017arXiv170703921S},\n\tabstract = {A direct consequence of hierarchical galaxy formation is the existence \nof dual supermassive black holes (SMBHs), which may be preferentially\ntriggered as active galactic nuclei (AGN) during galaxy mergers. Despite\ndecades of searching, however, dual AGNs are extremely rare, and most\nhave been discovered serendipitously. Using the all-sky WISE survey, we\nidentified a population of over 100 morphologically identified\ninteracting galaxies or mergers that display red mid-infrared colors\noften associated in extragalactic sources with powerful AGNs. The vast\nmajority of these advanced mergers are optically classified as\nstar-forming galaxies suggesting that they may represent an obscured\npopulation of AGNs that cannot be found through optical studies. In this\nwork, we present Chandra/ACIS observations and near-infrared spectra\nwith the Large Binocular Telescope of six advanced mergers with\nprojected pair separations less than {\\textasciitilde} 10 kpc. The combined X-ray,\nnear-infrared, and mid-infrared properties of these mergers provide\nconfirmation that four out of the six mergers host at least one AGN,\nwith four of the mergers possibly hosting dual AGNs with projected\nseparations less than {\\textasciitilde}10 kpc, despite showing no firm evidence for AGNs\nbased on optical spectroscopic studies. Our results demonstrate that 1)\noptical studies miss a significant fraction of single and dual AGNs in\nadvanced mergers, and 2) mid-infrared pre-selection is extremely\neffective in identifying dual AGN candidates in late-stage mergers. Our\nmulti-wavelength observations suggest that the buried AGNs in these\nmergers are highly absorbed, with intrinsic column densities in excess\nof N\\_H {\\textgreater}10{\\textasciicircum}24cm{\\textasciicircum}-2, consistent with hydrodynamic simulations.},\n\tjournal = {ArXiv e-prints},\n\tauthor = {Satyapal, Shobita and Secrest, Nathan J. and Ricci, Claudio and Ellison, Sara L. and Rothberg, Barry and Blecha, Laura and Constantin, Anca and Gliozzi, Mario and McNulty, Paul and Ferguson, Jason},\n\tmonth = jul,\n\tyear = {2017},\n\tkeywords = {Astrophysics - Astrophysics of Galaxies},\n\tpages = {arXiv:1707.03921},\n}\n\n","author_short":["Satyapal, S.","Secrest, N. J.","Ricci, C.","Ellison, S. 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