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arXiv · 2603.03042

Search for quasar pairs with Gaia astrometric data IV. Confirmation of 17 dual quasars and 143 projected quasars

Zhuojun Deng·Qihang Chen·Liang Jing·Xingyu Zhu·Jianghua Wu
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Abstract

Dual quasars separated at the kiloparsec scale are widely regarded as precursors to binary supermassive black holes and offer a key insight into the dynamical evolution of galaxy mergers. Our series of studies focuses on searching for dual quasars by using a selection strategy of zero proper motion and zero parallax to isolate candidate quasars near known ones and by follow-up spectroscopy of the candidates. This paper, the fourth in the series, reports the spectroscopic confirmations of our quasar pair candidates based on the spectroscopic data of the SDSS and DESI DR1. We newly identified 17 dual quasars and 143 projected quasars. The redshifts of the 17 dual quasars range from 0.573 to 2.758, with a median of 1.512. One notable system, J0023+0417, exhibits nearly identical spectral features in the two members and shows evidence of a potential foreground galaxy, making it a high-confidence strong gravitational lensing system. The redshifts of the 143 projected quasars are from 0.301 to 4.030, with a median of 1.596. Among them, four have projected distances below 30 kpc, offering valuable opportunities to probe the circumgalactic medium (CGM) of the foreground host galaxy through absorption lines.

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Zhuojun Deng, Qihang Chen, Liang Jing, Xingyu Zhu, Jianghua Wu. 2026-03-03. Search for quasar pairs with Gaia astrometric data IV. Confirmation of 17 dual quasars and 143 projected quasars. https://arxiv.org/abs/2603.03042

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