JWST Confirms the Nature of CID-42
The galaxy CID-42 (CXOC J100043.1+020637.2) at z = 0.359 has been proposed to contain a promising candidate for a gravitational-wave recoiling supermassive black hole (SMBH), a slingshot SMBH from a triple-SMBH interaction, or a kiloparsec-scale dual active galactic nucleus (AGN). These claims were...
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| Format: | Article |
| Language: | English |
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IOP Publishing
2024-01-01
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| Series: | The Astrophysical Journal |
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| Online Access: | https://doi.org/10.3847/1538-4357/ad0e0d |
| _version_ | 1827383774788190208 |
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| author | Junyao Li Ming-Yang Zhuang Yue Shen |
| author_facet | Junyao Li Ming-Yang Zhuang Yue Shen |
| author_sort | Junyao Li |
| collection | DOAJ |
| description | The galaxy CID-42 (CXOC J100043.1+020637.2) at z = 0.359 has been proposed to contain a promising candidate for a gravitational-wave recoiling supermassive black hole (SMBH), a slingshot SMBH from a triple-SMBH interaction, or a kiloparsec-scale dual active galactic nucleus (AGN). These claims were primarily based on a pair of bright cores separated by ∼0.″5 resolved in optical Hubble Space Telescope (HST) imaging. Existing HST, Chandra, and ground-based imaging and spectroscopy are unable to confirm either scenario. With improved spatial resolution, depth, and IR wavelength coverage, NIRCam multiband imaging from the COSMOS-Web JWST treasury program well resolved the two cores in CID-42, revealing a significant stellar bulge for both cores (with stellar masses of ∼10 ^10 M _⊙ for both). JWST imaging further revealed that only the SE core contains an unobscured AGN point source, based on both image decomposition and spectral energy distribution fitting. There is no evidence for AGN activity in the NW core based on the current data. These new observations unambiguously rule out the gravitational-wave-recoiling and slingshot-SMBH scenarios and establish CID-42 as a low-redshift merging pair of galaxies, with likely only one active AGN in the system. These results demonstrate the unparalleled capabilities of JWST (even with imaging alone) in studying the galactic-scale environment of merging galaxies and SMBHs. |
| first_indexed | 2024-03-08T14:46:11Z |
| format | Article |
| id | doaj.art-a40775ce67c14531a4a1fa1e97235030 |
| institution | Directory Open Access Journal |
| issn | 1538-4357 |
| language | English |
| last_indexed | 2024-03-08T14:46:11Z |
| publishDate | 2024-01-01 |
| publisher | IOP Publishing |
| record_format | Article |
| series | The Astrophysical Journal |
| spelling | doaj.art-a40775ce67c14531a4a1fa1e972350302024-01-11T09:50:29ZengIOP PublishingThe Astrophysical Journal1538-43572024-01-0196111910.3847/1538-4357/ad0e0dJWST Confirms the Nature of CID-42Junyao Li0https://orcid.org/0000-0002-1605-915XMing-Yang Zhuang1https://orcid.org/0000-0001-5105-2837Yue Shen2https://orcid.org/0000-0003-1659-7035Department of Astronomy, University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign , Urbana, IL 61801, USA ; junyaoli@illinois.eduDepartment of Astronomy, University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign , Urbana, IL 61801, USA ; junyaoli@illinois.eduDepartment of Astronomy, University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign , Urbana, IL 61801, USA ; junyaoli@illinois.edu; National Center for Supercomputing Applications, University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign , Urbana, IL 61801, USAThe galaxy CID-42 (CXOC J100043.1+020637.2) at z = 0.359 has been proposed to contain a promising candidate for a gravitational-wave recoiling supermassive black hole (SMBH), a slingshot SMBH from a triple-SMBH interaction, or a kiloparsec-scale dual active galactic nucleus (AGN). These claims were primarily based on a pair of bright cores separated by ∼0.″5 resolved in optical Hubble Space Telescope (HST) imaging. Existing HST, Chandra, and ground-based imaging and spectroscopy are unable to confirm either scenario. With improved spatial resolution, depth, and IR wavelength coverage, NIRCam multiband imaging from the COSMOS-Web JWST treasury program well resolved the two cores in CID-42, revealing a significant stellar bulge for both cores (with stellar masses of ∼10 ^10 M _⊙ for both). JWST imaging further revealed that only the SE core contains an unobscured AGN point source, based on both image decomposition and spectral energy distribution fitting. There is no evidence for AGN activity in the NW core based on the current data. These new observations unambiguously rule out the gravitational-wave-recoiling and slingshot-SMBH scenarios and establish CID-42 as a low-redshift merging pair of galaxies, with likely only one active AGN in the system. These results demonstrate the unparalleled capabilities of JWST (even with imaging alone) in studying the galactic-scale environment of merging galaxies and SMBHs.https://doi.org/10.3847/1538-4357/ad0e0dActive galactic nucleiGalaxy interactionsDouble quasars |
| spellingShingle | Junyao Li Ming-Yang Zhuang Yue Shen JWST Confirms the Nature of CID-42 The Astrophysical Journal Active galactic nuclei Galaxy interactions Double quasars |
| title | JWST Confirms the Nature of CID-42 |
| title_full | JWST Confirms the Nature of CID-42 |
| title_fullStr | JWST Confirms the Nature of CID-42 |
| title_full_unstemmed | JWST Confirms the Nature of CID-42 |
| title_short | JWST Confirms the Nature of CID-42 |
| title_sort | jwst confirms the nature of cid 42 |
| topic | Active galactic nuclei Galaxy interactions Double quasars |
| url | https://doi.org/10.3847/1538-4357/ad0e0d |
| work_keys_str_mv | AT junyaoli jwstconfirmsthenatureofcid42 AT mingyangzhuang jwstconfirmsthenatureofcid42 AT yueshen jwstconfirmsthenatureofcid42 |