The Bulletin of The Korean Astronomical Society (천문학회보)

The Korean Astronomical Society (한국천문학회)
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Correlation between Galaxy Mergers and AGN Activity

  • Hong, Ju-Eun (Center for the Exploration of the Origin of the Universe Seoul National University) ;
  • Im, Myung-Shin (Astronomy Program, Dept. of Physics & Astronomy, Seoul National University)
  • Published : 2011.04.05
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Abstract

It is believed that active galactic nuclei (AGN) is powered by super massive black hole (SMBH). But how the AGN activity is triggered is still unclear. Some studies suggest that gas inflow by merging can trigger AGN activity. However, it is difficult to find observational evidence because merging features such as tidal tail, shell are faint. Using images taken at Maidanak 1.5m telescope and CFHT, we investigated whether merging features are seen commonly on AGN host galaxies. We found that 3 to 4 of the currently studied 6 AGN show features disturbed by gravitational interaction. This result implies that AGN activity may correlates with merging. We plan to expand the sample size in the near future.

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