Colloq Abstract - Comerford
Apr 29, 2016
11am Mountain
Julie Comerford
AGN Triggering in Galaxy Mergers as Traced by Dual AGN and Offset AGN
Galaxy mergers drive central inflows of gas, which are an important triggering mechanism for AGN. Kpc-scale separation supermassive black hole pairs in ongoing galaxy mergers are ideal tracers of this link between galaxy mergers and AGN. In dual AGN systems both black holes are fueled as AGN, whereas in offset AGN systems only one of the black holes is an AGN. I will present multiwavelength approaches to building catalogs of dual AGN and offset AGN, and show the results of our observing campaigns with HST, Chandra, VLA, and Keck. Finally, I will discuss what our results show about whether galaxy mergers preferentially fuel the most luminous AGN, which black hole in a merger is more efficient at accreting gas, and where in a merger the AGN fueling occurs.
