Vol. 15 No. 1 (2026)
Highlights

Cosmic Duets: the first statistical sample of dual and lensed AGN

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  • Martina Scialpi
Martina Scialpi
Università di Firenze, via G. Sansone 1, 50019 Sesto F.no, Firenze, Italy
DOI: https://doi.org/10.36253/cdg-17251

Published 2026-03-30

Keywords

  • extragalactic astronomy,
  • active galactic nuclei,
  • spectroscopy,
  • gravitational waves,
  • gravitational lensing

How to Cite

Scialpi, M. (2026). Cosmic Duets: the first statistical sample of dual and lensed AGN. Il Colle Di Galileo, 15(1), 97–103. https://doi.org/10.36253/cdg-17251

Copyright (c) 2026 Martina Scialpi

Creative Commons License

This work is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution 4.0 International License.

Abstract

The Cosmic Duets project exploits Gaia’s high angular resolution to select multiple AGN and combines low and high spatial resolution spectroscopy to distinguish dual AGN from those that are gravitationally lensed, with sub-arcsec separations. A Large Program of 138 hours with MUSE at the VLT will allow the observation of 150 systems to measure the masses, luminosities and separations of merging black holes, estimate the dual fraction and provide observational constraints on the rate of gravitational wave events anticipated with the LISA space mission. The lensed systems observed in this programme will also allow the detailed study of the internal structure of lens galaxies, constrain the distribution of baryonic and dark matter, and estimate the initial stellar mass function.

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