A Single Radio Source in the High-redshift Dual AGN LBQS 0302-0019

TL;DR

This study investigates the dual AGN system LBQS 0302-0019, revealing a radio source associated with the unobscured quasar and a non-detected obscured companion, highlighting the complexity of identifying dual AGNs.

Contribution

It combines archival radio data to distinguish between the radio emissions of the dual AGN components, providing new insights into their radio properties.

Findings

Radio source coincides with the unobscured quasar

Obscured companion shows no detectable radio emission

Non-detection does not exclude a radio-quiet AGN presence

Abstract

By discovering a narrow-line emitter embedded in an extended Ly-alpha nebula, Husemann et al. (2018) found that the luminous radio-quiet quasar LBQS 0302-0019 is a dual active galactic nucleus (AGN) system. By combining available archival radio interferometric data taken at 8.4 GHz with the Very Large Array (VLA), we found that the weak 0.4-mJy radio source in this system positionally coincides with the unobscured optical quasar while its newly discovered obscured companion has no detectable radio emission (<0.045 mJy/beam, 3-sigma image noise level). However, the non-detection of this object with the VLA does not rule out the presence of a radio-quiet AGN there.