NuSTAR Observations of Candidate Subparsec Binary Supermassive Black Holes

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Main Authors: Saade, M. Lynne, Brightman, Murray, Stern, Daniel, Connor, Thomas, Djorgovski, S. G., D'Orazio, Daniel J., Ford, K. E. S., Graham, Matthew J., Haiman, Zoltan, Jun, Hyunsung D., Kammoun, Elias, Kraft, Ralph P., McKernan, Barry, Vikhlinin, Alexei, Walton, Dominic J.
Format: Preprint
Published: 2023
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author Saade, M. Lynne
Brightman, Murray
Stern, Daniel
Connor, Thomas
Djorgovski, S. G.
D'Orazio, Daniel J.
Ford, K. E. S.
Graham, Matthew J.
Haiman, Zoltan
Jun, Hyunsung D.
Kammoun, Elias
Kraft, Ralph P.
McKernan, Barry
Vikhlinin, Alexei
Walton, Dominic J.
author_facet Saade, M. Lynne
Brightman, Murray
Stern, Daniel
Connor, Thomas
Djorgovski, S. G.
D'Orazio, Daniel J.
Ford, K. E. S.
Graham, Matthew J.
Haiman, Zoltan
Jun, Hyunsung D.
Kammoun, Elias
Kraft, Ralph P.
McKernan, Barry
Vikhlinin, Alexei
Walton, Dominic J.
contents We present analysis of NuSTAR X-ray observations of three AGN that were identified as candidate subparsec binary supermassive black hole (SMBH) systems in the Catalina Real-Time Transient Survey based on apparent periodicity in their optical light curves. Simulations predict that close-separation accreting SMBH binaries will have different X-ray spectra than single accreting SMBHs. We previously observed these AGN with Chandra and found no differences between their low energy X-ray properties and the larger AGN population. However some models predict differences to be more prominent at energies higher than probed by Chandra. We find that even at the higher energies probed by NuSTAR, the spectra of these AGN are indistinguishable from the larger AGN population. This could rule out models predicting large differences in the X-ray spectra in the NuSTAR bands. Alternatively, it might mean that these three AGN are not binary SMBHs.
format Preprint
id arxiv_https___arxiv_org_abs_2304_06144
institution arXiv
publishDate 2023
record_format arxiv
spellingShingle NuSTAR Observations of Candidate Subparsec Binary Supermassive Black Holes
Saade, M. Lynne
Brightman, Murray
Stern, Daniel
Connor, Thomas
Djorgovski, S. G.
D'Orazio, Daniel J.
Ford, K. E. S.
Graham, Matthew J.
Haiman, Zoltan
Jun, Hyunsung D.
Kammoun, Elias
Kraft, Ralph P.
McKernan, Barry
Vikhlinin, Alexei
Walton, Dominic J.
High Energy Astrophysical Phenomena
Astrophysics of Galaxies
We present analysis of NuSTAR X-ray observations of three AGN that were identified as candidate subparsec binary supermassive black hole (SMBH) systems in the Catalina Real-Time Transient Survey based on apparent periodicity in their optical light curves. Simulations predict that close-separation accreting SMBH binaries will have different X-ray spectra than single accreting SMBHs. We previously observed these AGN with Chandra and found no differences between their low energy X-ray properties and the larger AGN population. However some models predict differences to be more prominent at energies higher than probed by Chandra. We find that even at the higher energies probed by NuSTAR, the spectra of these AGN are indistinguishable from the larger AGN population. This could rule out models predicting large differences in the X-ray spectra in the NuSTAR bands. Alternatively, it might mean that these three AGN are not binary SMBHs.
title NuSTAR Observations of Candidate Subparsec Binary Supermassive Black Holes
topic High Energy Astrophysical Phenomena
Astrophysics of Galaxies
url https://arxiv.org/abs/2304.06144