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The ultra-dense, interacting environment of a dual AGN at z $\sim$ 3.3 revealed by JWST/NIRSpec IFS

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arxiv 2304.06756 v2 pith:RNGDPPUQ submitted 2023-04-13 astro-ph.GA

classification astro-ph.GA
keywords dualnirspeccomplexdecompositionenvironmentinteractingcompanionsjwst
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abstract

LBQS 0302-0019 is a blue quasar (QSO) at z ~ 3.3, hosting powerful outflows, and residing in a complex environment consisting of an obscured AGN candidate, and multiple companions, all within 30 kpc in projection. We use JWST NIRSpec IFS observations to characterise the ionized gas in this complex system. We develop a procedure to correct for the spurious oscillations (or 'wiggles') in NIRSpec single-spaxel spectra, due to the spatial under-sampling of the point spread function. We perform a quasar-host decomposition with the QDeblend3D tools, and use multi-component kinematic decomposition of the optical emission line profiles to infer the physical properties of the emitting gas. The quasar-host decomposition allows us to identify i) a low-velocity component possibly tracing a warm rotating disk, with a dynamical mass Mdyn $\sim 10^{11}$ Msun and a rotation-to-random motion ratio $v_{rot}$/$\sigma_0 \sim 2$; ii) a spatially unresolved ionised outflow, with a velocity of $\sim$ 1000 km/s and an outflow mass rate of $\sim 10^4$ Msun/yr. We also detect eight interacting companion objects close to LBQS 0302-0019. Optical line ratios confirm the presence of a second, obscured AGN at $\sim 20$ kpc of the primary QSO; the dual AGN dominates the ionization state of the gas in the entire NIRSpec field-of-view. This work has unveiled with unprecedented detail the complex environment of this dual AGN, which includes nine interacting companions (five of which were previously unknown), all within 30 kpc of the QSO. Our results support a scenario where mergers can trigger dual AGN, and can be important drivers for rapid early SMBH growth.

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Cited by 2 Pith papers

Reviewed papers in the Pith corpus that reference this work. Sorted by Pith novelty score. Full citation record

  1. BlackTHUNDER Reveals a Massive Filament around a Compact AGN at $z\simeq5.23$

    astro-ph.GA 2026-07 conditional novelty 6.5 of 10

    GN-77652, a compact broad-line AGN at z=5.229, lies beside a 12 kpc multi-source filament at the same redshift whose coalescence will erase the compact AGN appearance within ~150–440 Myr.

  2. Mapping gas accretion and stellar kinematics to sub-kiloparsec scales in NGC 4696 with JWST/NIRSpec

    astro-ph.GA 2026-08 conditional novelty 5.0 of 10

    JWST resolves a rotating circumnuclear disk in NGC 4696 whose kinematic centre is offset 41 pc from the previous AGN position, implying a roughly billion-solar-mass black hole and an inflow of about 18 solar masses per year.

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