SDSSJ092712.65+294344.0: a candidate massive black hole binary

Abstract

In this Letter, we explore the hypothesis that the quasar SDSSJ092712.65+294344.0 is hosting a massive black hole binary embedded in a circumbinary disc. The lightest, secondary black hole is active, and gas orbiting around it is responsible for the blue-shifted broad emission lines with velocity off-set of 2650 km s −1 , relative to the galaxy rest frame. As the tidal interaction of the binary with the outer disc is expected to excavate a gap, the blue-shifted narrow emission lines are consistent with being emitted from the low-density inhomogeneous gas of the hollow region. From the observations, we infer a binary mass ratio q ≈ 0.3 , a mass for the primary of M 1 ≈ 2 × 10 9 M , and a semimajor axis of 0.34 pc, corresponding to an orbital period of 370 years. We use the results of cosmological merger trees to estimate the likelihood of observing SDSSJ092712.65+294344.0 as recoiling black hole or as a binary. We find that the binary hypothesis is preferred being 100 times more probable than the ejection hypothesis. If SDSSJ092712.65+294344.0 hosts a binary, it would be the one closest massive black hole binary system ever discovered.