During galaxy merger events, the supermassive black holes in the center of the galaxies may form a pair of active galactic nuclei (AGN) with kiloparsec-scale or even parsec-scale separation. Recently, optical observations revealed a promising dual-AGN candidate at the center of the galaxy SDSS J101022.95+141300.9 (hereafter J1010+1413). The presence of two distinct [O III]-emitting point sources with a projected separation of ~430 pc indicates a dual-AGN system. To search for AGN-dominated radio emission originating from the Hubble Space Telescope (HST) point sources, we carried out very long baseline interferometry observations. We resolved the radio structure of J1010+1413 and detected a single feature offset from the HST point sources and also from the Gaia optical position of the object. Our multiwavelength analysis of J1010+1413 inferred two possible interpretations of the observed properties challenging its proposed dual-AGN classification.

Published in The Astrophysical Journal, Volume 922, Issue 2, id.99, 9 pp.