Dual and lensed AGN at sub-arcsecond separations uncovered by ERIS
Abstract
We present the first results of the ongoing INAF GTO program focused on the search of sub-arcsecond dual AGN, carried out with the near-infrared integral-field unit SPIFFIER of the Enhanced Resolution Imager and Spectrograph (ERIS) at the ESO Very Large Telescope, operating in adaptive-optics mode with a laser guide star. We report integral field spectroscopy with the low-resolution gratings (R ~ 5000 - 5600) of 34 multiple AGN candidates selected from the Gaia Data Release 3 source catalog via the Gaia Multi-Peak (GMP) method, which preferentially identifies luminous unobscured AGN at sub-arcsecond separations. The targets span the redshift range 0.7 < z < 3.4 and exhibit projected angular separations between ~0.2'' and ~0.9'', corresponding to physical separations of ~1.7-7.8 kpc. Of the 34 observed systems,13 (~40 %) are resolved into multiple AGN-like components; 18 (~53 %) are classified as AGN plus foreground star superpositions, one as a single AGN, and two as systems with an AGN primary and an unclassified secondary component. Among the multiple AGN systems, we confirm six dual AGN at projected separations of 0.26'' - 0.80'' (2.2 - 6.7 kpc), in the redshift range z = 0.68 - 1.57, and with velocity offsets in the range Δv ~ 290 - 950 km/s. We also identify seven gravitationally lensed quasars, only one of which was previously known, including four doubly imaged and three quadruply imaged systems. These results substantially enlarge the census of spectroscopically confirmed compact multiple AGN systems at z > 0.5 and demonstrate the efficiency of ERIS-SPIFFIER for the systematic characterization of sub-arcsecond dual and lensed AGN candidates.
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BibTeX
@misc{zanchettin2026dual,
title = {{Dual and lensed AGN at sub-arcsecond separations uncovered by ERIS}},
author = {M. V. Zanchettin and F. Mannucci and Q. D'Amato and M. Scialpi and C. Marconcini and G. Tozzi and E. Bertola and A. Feltre and C. Bracci and V. Braito and S. Carniani and E. Cataldi and M. Ceci and A. Chakraborty and C. Cicone and G. Cresci and A. De Rosa and M. Ginolfi and I. Lamperti and A. Marconi and B. Moreschini and E. Nardini and M. Perna and E. Portaluri and K. Rubinur and P. Saracco and P. Severgnini and L. Ulivi and G. Venturi and C. Vignali and A. Agudo Berbel and G. Agapito and A. Baruffolo and Y. Cao and R. Davies and M. Deysenroth and A. Di Cianno and I. Di Antonio and G. Di Rico and M. Dolci and F. Eisenhauer and S. Esposito and D. Fantinel and D. Ferruzzi and H. Feuchtgruber and N. M. Förster Schreiber and R. Genzel and S. Gillessen and M. Hartl and H. Huber and C. Keller and K. Kravchenko and D. Lutz and M. Macintosh and T. Ott and A. Puglisi and S. Rabien and C. Rau and A. Riccardi and B. Salasnich},
howpublished = {arXiv},
year = {2026},
month = oct,
doi = {10.48550/arxiv.2610.27086},
eprint = {2610.27086},
archivePrefix = {arXiv},
url = {https://arxiv.org/abs/2610.27086},
note = {CC BY 4.0},
}
RIS
TY - UNPB
TI - Dual and lensed AGN at sub-arcsecond separations uncovered by ERIS
AU - M. V. Zanchettin
AU - F. Mannucci
AU - Q. D'Amato
AU - M. Scialpi
AU - C. Marconcini
AU - G. Tozzi
AU - E. Bertola
AU - A. Feltre
AU - C. Bracci
AU - V. Braito
AU - S. Carniani
AU - E. Cataldi
AU - M. Ceci
AU - A. Chakraborty
AU - C. Cicone
AU - G. Cresci
AU - A. De Rosa
AU - M. Ginolfi
AU - I. Lamperti
AU - A. Marconi
AU - B. Moreschini
AU - E. Nardini
AU - M. Perna
AU - E. Portaluri
AU - K. Rubinur
AU - P. Saracco
AU - P. Severgnini
AU - L. Ulivi
AU - G. Venturi
AU - C. Vignali
AU - A. Agudo Berbel
AU - G. Agapito
AU - A. Baruffolo
AU - Y. Cao
AU - R. Davies
AU - M. Deysenroth
AU - A. Di Cianno
AU - I. Di Antonio
AU - G. Di Rico
AU - M. Dolci
AU - F. Eisenhauer
AU - S. Esposito
AU - D. Fantinel
AU - D. Ferruzzi
AU - H. Feuchtgruber
AU - N. M. Förster Schreiber
AU - R. Genzel
AU - S. Gillessen
AU - M. Hartl
AU - H. Huber
AU - C. Keller
AU - K. Kravchenko
AU - D. Lutz
AU - M. Macintosh
AU - T. Ott
AU - A. Puglisi
AU - S. Rabien
AU - C. Rau
AU - A. Riccardi
AU - B. Salasnich
PY - 2026
DA - 2026/10/19
PB - arXiv
DO - 10.48550/arxiv.2610.27086
UR - https://arxiv.org/abs/2610.27086
AB - We present the first results of the ongoing INAF GTO program focused on the search of sub-arcsecond dual AGN, carried out with the near-infrared integral-field unit SPIFFIER of the Enhanced Resolution Imager and Spectrograph (ERIS) at the ESO Very Large Telescope, operating in adaptive-optics mode with a laser guide star. We report integral field spectroscopy with the low-resolution gratings (R ~ 5000 - 5600) of 34 multiple AGN candidates selected from the Gaia Data Release 3 source catalog via the Gaia Multi-Peak (GMP) method, which preferentially identifies luminous unobscured AGN at sub-arcsecond separations. The targets span the redshift range 0.7 < z < 3.4 and exhibit projected angular separations between ~0.2'' and ~0.9'', corresponding to physical separations of ~1.7-7.8 kpc. Of the 34 observed systems,13 (~40 %) are resolved into multiple AGN-like components; 18 (~53 %) are classified as AGN plus foreground star superpositions, one as a single AGN, and two as systems with an AGN primary and an unclassified secondary component. Among the multiple AGN systems, we confirm six dual AGN at projected separations of 0.26'' - 0.80'' (2.2 - 6.7 kpc), in the redshift range z = 0.68 - 1.57, and with velocity offsets in the range Δv ~ 290 - 950 km/s. We also identify seven gravitationally lensed quasars, only one of which was previously known, including four doubly imaged and three quadruply imaged systems. These results substantially enlarge the census of spectroscopically confirmed compact multiple AGN systems at z > 0.5 and demonstrate the efficiency of ERIS-SPIFFIER for the systematic characterization of sub-arcsecond dual and lensed AGN candidates.
ER -