Landing page for project EM180

In the massive galaxy regime, major mergers are found to be correlated with active galactic nuclei (AGN) activity. Although there is plenty of evidence that dwarf galaxies can also host AGN, it remains unclear how mergers affect AGN triggering in the dwarf galaxy regime, mainly due to a lack of dedicated studies. We propose EVN+eMERLIN observations of six dwarf galaxy mergers selected from the MaNGA integral-field spectroscopy (IFS) survey as having possible AGN ionization features for both merger members as well as low-resolution (VLA and VLASS) radio counterparts. The presence of star formation and the low resolution of the IFU data prevent from confirming the presence and location of the AGN. This can however be achieved via the proposed VLBI observations. Probing the presence, activity and properties of AGN at different stages of dwarf galaxy mergers can provide valuable information for understanding the impact of mergers on AGN activity and black hole growth in the dwarf galaxy regime and the potential of IFS for identifying such sources.

This data is part of the archive of VLBI data maintained by JIVE on behalf of the EVN, a network of radio telescopes located primarily in Europe and Asia, with additional antennas in South Africa. The EVN archive itself has the DOI https://doi.org/10.17616/R3Z197