A parsec-scale radio jet launched by the central intermediate-mass black hole in the dwarf galaxy SDSS J090613.77+561015.2
Journal article, 2020

The population of intermediate-mass black holes (IMBHs) in nearby dwarf galaxies plays an important 'ground truth' role in exploring black hole formation and growth in the early Universe. In the dwarf elliptical galaxy SDSS J090613.77+561015.2 (z = 0.0465), an accreting IMBH has been revealed by optical and X-ray observations. Aiming to search for possible radio core and jet associated with the IMBH, we carried out very long baseline interferometry (VLBI) observations with the European VLBI Network at 1.66 GHz. Our imaging results show that there are two 1-mJy components with a separation of about 52 mas (projected distance 47 pc) and themore compact component is located within the 1s error circle of the optical centroid from available Gaia astrometry. Based on their positions, elongated structures and relatively high brightness temperatures, as well as the absence of star-forming activity in the host galaxy, we argue that the radio morphology originates from the jet activity powered by the central IMBH. The existence of the large-scale jet implies that violent jet activity might occur in the early epochs of black hole growth and thus help to regulate the co-evolution of black holes and galaxies.

galaxies: individual: SDSS J090613.77+561015.2

galaxies: active

galaxies: jets

galaxies: dwarf

radio continuum: galaxies

Author

Jun Yang

Chalmers, Space, Earth and Environment, Onsala Space Observatory

Leonid I. Gurvits

Commonwealth Scientific and Industrial Research Organisation (CSIRO)

Delft University of Technology

Joint Institute for VLBI in Europe (JIVE)

Zsolt Paragi

Joint Institute for VLBI in Europe (JIVE)

S. Frey

Konkoly Observatory

Eötvös Loránd University (ELTE)

John Conway

Chalmers, Space, Earth and Environment, Onsala Space Observatory

Xiang Liu

Chinese Academy of Sciences

Lang Cui

Chinese Academy of Sciences

Monthly Notices of the Royal Astronomical Society: Letters

17453925 (ISSN) 17453933 (eISSN)

Vol. 495 1 L71-L75

Subject Categories

Astronomy, Astrophysics and Cosmology

DOI

10.1093/MNRASL/SLAA052

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