Candidate Dual Active NucleiFeatured release
NASA · Hubble, Chandra, and VLA
A Candidate Supermassive Black Hole Duo
Chandra, Hubble, and VLA observations resolve compact structures consistent with a candidate pair of accreting supermassive black holes separated by approximately 100 pc.
Scientific context
Resolving compact accretion across wavebands
Hubble/ACS imaging resolves three compact [O III] and F814W emission regions in MCG-03-34-64, Chandra/ACIS-S resolves two Fe Kα peaks, and VLA-A 8.46 GHz imaging resolves two radio peaks at consistent locations. Joint XMM-Newton EPIC-pn and NuSTAR FPMA/FPMB spectroscopy constrains the integrated broadband emission. These measurements support a candidate dual active galactic nucleus separated by approximately 100 pc, but they do not definitively exclude a single active nucleus interacting with shocked interstellar gas.
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