Discovery of a Binary Active Galactic Nucleus in the Ultraluminous Infrared Galaxy NGC 6240 Using
                    <i>Chandra</i>

Komossa, Stefanie; Burwitz, V.; Hasinger, G.; Predehl, P.; Kaastra, J. S.; Ikebe, Y.

doi:10.1086/346145

Cited by 656 publications

(779 citation statements)

References 23 publications

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“…The more moderate estimates presented by Lutz et al (2003) are for a global extinction, and correspond to a dust screen A V ∼ 15−20 mag. This estimate is comparable to derivations at radio (N H ∼ (1.5−2) × 10 22 cm −2 , Beswick et al 2001) and X-ray (N H ∼ 10 22 cm −2 , Komossa et al 2003) wavelengths. This is important, because it implies a modest typical K-band screen extinction of only A K ∼ 1−2 mag.…”

Section: Extinction and Luminosity Of Nucleisupporting

confidence: 87%

NGC 6240: merger-induced star formation and gas dynamics

Engel

Davies

Genzel

et al. 2010

A&A

111

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We present spatially resolved integral field spectroscopic K-band data at a resolution of 0.13 (60 pc) and interferometric CO(2-1) line observations of the prototypical merging system NGC 6240. Despite the clear rotational signature, the stellar kinematics in the two nuclei are dominated by dispersion. We use Jeans modelling to derive the masses and the mass-to-light ratios of the nuclei. Combining the luminosities with the spatially resolved Brγ equivalent width shows that only 1/3 of the K-band continuum from the nuclei is associated with the most recent star forming episode; and that less than 30% of the system's bolometric luminosity and only 9% of its stellar mass is due to this starburst. The star formation properties, calculated from typical merger star formation histories, demonstrate the impact of different assumptions about the star formation history. The properties of the nuclei, and the existence of a prominent old stellar population, indicate that the nuclei are remnants of the progenitor galaxies' bulges.

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Section: Extinction and Luminosity Of Nucleisupporting

confidence: 87%

NGC 6240: merger-induced star formation and gas dynamics

Engel

Davies

Genzel

et al. 2010

A&A

111

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“…Dual active galactic nuclei (AGNs) with kiloparsec-scale separation, products of galaxy mergers, have been unambiguously detected in a number of cases (Komossa et al 2003;Comerford et al 2015;Fu et al 2015). However, the identification of subparsec SMBHBs is particularly challenging because these small separations at cosmic distance are well below the angular resolving power of the current and even most future powerful telescopes.…”

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

Spectroscopic Indication of a Centi-Parsec Supermassive Black Hole Binary in the Galactic Center of Ngc 5548

Wang

et al. 2016

ApJ

111

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As a natural consequence of cosmological hierarchical structure formation, sub-parsec supermassive black hole binaries (SMBHBs) should be common in galaxies but thus far have eluded spectroscopic identification. Based on four decades of optical spectroscopic monitoring, we report that the nucleus of NGC5548, a nearby Seyfert galaxy long suspected to have experienced a major merger about 1 billion yr ago, exhibits long-term variability with a period of ∼14 yr in the optical continuum and broad Hβ emission line. Remarkably, the double-peaked profile of Hβ shows systematic velocity changes with a similar period. These pieces of observations plausibly indicate that an SMBHB resides in the center of NGC5548. The complex, secular variations in the line profiles can be explained by orbital motion of a binary with equal mass and a semimajor axis of ∼22 light-days (corresponding to ∼18 milli-parsec). At a distance of 75Mpc, NGC5548 is one of the nearest sub-parsec SMBHB candidates that offers an ideal laboratory for gravitational wave detection.

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“…During the merging of galaxies, the supermassive black holes (SMBHs) at their centers form binary systems, most of which, it is believed, eventually merge in less than a Hubble time (e.g., Komossa et al 2003). An understanding of how SMBHs form and coalesce is important for the understanding of active galactic nuclei (AGN) dynamics as well as galaxy formation in general.…”

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

A candidate supermassive binary black hole system in the brightest cluster galaxy of RBS 797

Gitti

Giroletti

Giovannini

et al. 2013

A&A

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Context. The radio source at the center of the cool-core galaxy cluster RBS 797 (z = 0.35) is known to exhibit a misalignment of its radio jets and lobes observed at different VLA scales, with the innermost ∼kpc-scale jets being almost orthogonal to the radio emission which extends for tens of kpc filling the X-ray cavities. Gitti et al. (2006, A&A, 448, 853) suggested that this peculiar radio morphology may indicate a recurrent activity of the central radio source, where the jet orientation is changing between the different outbursts due to the effects of supermassive binary black holes (SMBBHs). Aims. We aim to reveal the nuclear radio properties of the brightest cluster galaxy (BCG) in RBS 797 and to investigate the presence of a SMBBH system in its center. Methods. We performed new high-resolution observations at 5 GHz with the European VLBI Network (EVN) on May 3, 2013, reaching an angular resolution of ∼9 × 5 mas 2 and a sensitivity of 36 μJy beam −1 . We also re-analyzed VLA archival data at 4.8 GHz in A-and B-configurations. Results. We report the EVN detection of two compact components in the BCG of RBS 797, with a projected separation of ∼77 pc. We can envisage two possible scenarios: the two components are two different nuclei in a close binary system, or they are the core and a knot of its jet. Both interpretations are consistent with the presence of SMBBHs. Our re-analysis of VLA archival data seems to favor the first scenario, as we detect two pairs of radio jets misaligned by ∼90 degrees on the same ∼kpc scale emanating from the central radio core. If the two outbursts are almost contemporaneous, this is clear evidence of the presence of two active supermassive black holes whose radio nuclei are unresolved at VLA resolution. The nature of the double source detected by our EVN observations in the BCG of RBS 797 can be established only by future sensitive, multi-frequency VLBI observations. If confirmed, RBS 797 would be the first SMBBH system observed at medium-high redshift at VLBI resolution.

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Discovery of a Binary Active Galactic Nucleus in the Ultraluminous Infrared Galaxy NGC 6240 Using Chandra

Cited by 656 publications

References 23 publications

NGC 6240: merger-induced star formation and gas dynamics

NGC 6240: merger-induced star formation and gas dynamics

Spectroscopic Indication of a Centi-Parsec Supermassive Black Hole Binary in the Galactic Center of Ngc 5548

A candidate supermassive binary black hole system in the brightest cluster galaxy of RBS 797

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