Discovery of a 2 Kpc Binary Quasar
Abstract
LBQS 01032753 is a binary quasar with a separation of only 0.3 arcsec. The projected spacing of 2.3 kpc at the distance of the source (z = 0.848) is much smaller than that of any other known binary QSO. The binary nature is demonstrated by the very different spectra of the two components and the low probability of a chance pairing. LBQS 01032753 presumably is a galaxy merger with a small physical separation between the two supermassive black holes. Such objects may provide important constraints on the evolution of binary black holes and the fueling of AGN.
Cite
@article{arxiv.astro-ph/0104236,
title = {Discovery of a 2 Kpc Binary Quasar},
author = {G. A. Shields and V. Junkkarinen and E. A. Beaver and E. M. Burbidge and R. D. Cohen and F. Hamann and R. W. Lyons},
journal= {arXiv preprint arXiv:astro-ph/0104236},
year = {2009}
}
Comments
6 pages LATEX with 2 EPS figures; uses epsfig, aipproc. Proceedings of the 20th Texas Symposium on Relativistic Astrophysics, ed. J. C. Wheeler and H. Martel, American Institute of Physics, in press (2001)