2009/06/30 by R. Chornock, Ryan Chornock, J. S. Bloom +12 · 3 citations
Environmental Science · Physics and Astronomy · #Active galactic nucleus #Astronomy #Astrophysical Phenomena and Observations #Astrophysics #Binary number #Emission spectrum #Galaxies: Formation, Evolution, Phenomena #Galaxy #Line (geometry) #Physics #Plant Water Relations and Carbon Dynamics #Quasar #Spectral line #Supermassive black hole #astro-ph.CO #astro-ph.HE
paper · pdf · doi:10.1088/2041-8205/709/1/l39
ApJL, 5 pages, 3 figures, revised to match accepted version
arxiv created 2009/12/13 · openalex publication_date 2010/01/04 · arxiv updated 2015/05/13 · openalex created_date 2025/10/10 · openalex updated_date 2026/08/06
The quasar SDSS J153636.22+044127.0, exhibiting peculiar broad emission-line profiles with multiple components, was proposed as a candidate sub-parsec binary supermassive black hole system. More recently, imaging revealed two spatially distinct sources, leading some to suggest that the system was a quasar pair separated by ∼5 kpc. We present Palomar and Keck optical spectra of this system from which we identify a third velocity component to the emission lines. We argue that the system is more likely an unusual member of the class of active galactic nuclei known as "double-peaked emitters" than a sub-parsec black hole binary or quasar pair. We find no significant velocity evolution of the two main peaks over the course of 0.95 yr, with a 3σ upper limit on any secular change of 70 km s −1 yr −1 . We also find that the three velocity components of the emission lines are spatially coincident to within 0 015 along the slit, apparently ruling out the double-quasar hypothesis.