Investigating a Binary Active Galactic Nucleus Candidate using Radio Observations from e-MERLIN
Transient Astrophysics
Jacob
Brooks
Date Submitted
2021-04-26 00:00:00
University of Central Lancashire
J. Brooks
A sub-kpc-scale binary AGN candidate at z ~ 0.35 is investigated by combining several radio observations from e-MERLIN. A dual radio source is detected which, when considered with previous optical observations, provides strong evidence for a binary AGN; the most distant pair discovered to date. The angular separation is measured to be 0.21+/-0.11 arcseconds consistent with previous measurements. This corresponds to an approximate physical separation of 1030+/-490pc at the epoch of the source. Further observations are required to definitively classify the target as a sub-kpc-scale AGN pair due to the large error on the separation. This is caused by coincident obscuration by the PSF along the position angle of the two cores. Further study could also look for a core-jet morphology within either radio core, or investigate the variability of the source, as combing radio observations to necessarily increase the sensitivity comes with the loss of chronological information.
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