| SDSS J0849+1114 | |
|---|---|
 SDSS J0849+1114 in optical and as captured by theChandra X-ray Observatory | |
| Observation data (J2000.0epoch) | |
| Constellation | Cancer |
| Right ascension | 08h 49m 05.51s |
| Declination | +11° 14′ 47.8″ |
| Redshift | 0.077447 |
| Heliocentric radial velocity | 23,818km/s |
| Distance | 1.059Gly (325Mpc) |
| Apparent magnitude (V) | 0.10 |
| Apparent magnitude (B) | 0.14 |
| Surface brightness | 16.66 |
| Notable features | tripleactive galactic nucleus |
| Other designations | |
| SDSS J084905.51+111447.2,IRAS 08463+1126,LEDA 1390839,NVSS J084905+111448 | |
SDSS J0849+1114 (SDSS J084905.51+111447.2) is a late-stage galaxy merger forming from a trio of galaxies located in the constellation ofCancer. At the redshift of 0.077, they are located 1.06 billionlight-years fromEarth.[1][2] First discovered as a tripleactive galactic nucleus (AGN) candidate in aSloan Digital Sky Survey study published in 2011,[3] they received significant attention whenastronomers discovered it harbors threesupermassive black holes in its center.[4]
SDSS J0849+1114 is made up of three closely spaced interactingspiral galaxies, all showing signs of distortion. It hastidal tail features indicative of a late-stagemerger.[2][5] The nuclei in SDSS J0849+1114 are considered active and the galaxies classified astype 2 Seyferts according to long-slitspectroscopy observations fromApache Point Observatory.[6][7] A study also mentions out of the triple AGN candidates studied, SDSS J0849+1114 is also the first known triple Seyfert nucleus.[8] In addition, they are classified asluminous infrared galaxies withluminosity of 8-1000 μm.[2]
According to a study published in 2022, the primary nucleus of SDSS J0849+1114 is more powerful compared to the secondary and tertiary nuclei. Further evidence also points out it has a double-sidedjet with itsorientation changing by 20degrees, explaining theangular momentum of the black hole might be changed by a merger-enhancedaccretion. The secondary nucleus shows absence ofradio emission at allfrequencies while the tertiary nucleus also has a two-sided jet but shown enlarging aradio lobe. Based on the internalenergy of the lobe, it is estimated 5.0 × 1055erg.[9] Furthermore, the three nuclei showed extended disc and budge components which the two showed signs oftidal stripping by the main nucleus.[8]
The three supermassive black holes in SDSS J0849+1114 are found colliding together with a separation gap of only between 10,000 and 30,000 light-years.[10] All of them are surrounded by dusty structures and each of the black holes have a mass of ~107.5M☉, 106.4M☉ and 106.7M☉ respectively. According toChandra andNuSTAR observations, one of the black holes showed large quantities ofinterstellar matter surrounding itstorus.[4] It is estimated that the black holes from the merging galaxies will form a gravitationally bound triple black hole system within a few billion years.[8]
