Chandra unveils a binary Active Galactic Nucleus in Mrk463

Abstract

We analyse Chandra, XMM-Newton and HST data of the double-nucleus Ultraluminous Infrared Galaxy (ULIRG), Mrk463. The Chandra detection of two luminous ($\mathrm{L}_\mathrm{2-10 keV}=1.5\times10^{43}$ and $3.8\times10^{42}$ erg cm$^{-2}$ s$^{-1}$), unresolved nuclei in Mrk~463 indicates that this galaxy hosts a binary AGN, with a projected separation of $\simeq3.8$ kpc ($3.83\pm0.01$ arcsec). While the East nucleus was already known to be a Seyfert 2 (and this is further confirmed by our Chandra detection of a neutral iron line), this is the first unambiguous evidence in favour of the AGN nature of the West nucleus. Mrk463 is therefore the clearest case so far for a binary AGN, after NGC6240.