Matsuoka, Y.Izumi, T.Onoue, M.Strauss, M. A.Iwasawa, KazushiKashikawa, N.Akiyama, M.Aoki, K.Arita, J.Imanishi, M.Ishimoto, R.Kawaguchi, T.Kohno, K.Lee, C.-H.Nagao, T.Silverman, J. D.Toba, Y.2025-01-302025-01-3020240004-637Xhttps://hdl.handle.net/2445/218253We report the discovery of two quasars at a redshift of z = 6.05 in the process of merging. They were serendipitously discovered from the deep multiband imaging data collected by the Hyper Suprime-Cam (HSC) Subaru Strategic Program survey. The quasars, HSC J121503.42−014858.7 (C1) and HSC J121503.55−014859.3 (C2), both have luminous (>1043 erg s−1) Lyα emission with a clear broad component (full width at half maximum >1000 km s−1). The rest-frame ultraviolet (UV) absolute magnitudes are M1450 = − 23.106 ± 0.017 (C1) and −22.662 ± 0.024 (C2). Our crude estimates of the black hole masses provide in both sources. The two quasars are separated by 12 kpc in projected proper distance, bridged by a structure in the rest-UV light suggesting that they are undergoing a merger. This pair is one of the most distant merging quasars reported to date, providing crucial insight into galaxy and black hole build-up in the hierarchical structure formation scenario. A companion paper will present the gas and dust properties captured by Atacama Large Millimeter/submillimeter Array observations, which provide additional evidence for and detailed measurements of the merger, and also demonstrate that the two sources are not gravitationally lensed images of a single quasar.1 p.application/pdfeng(c) American Astronomical Society, 2024QuàsarsForats negres (Astronomia)Nucli galàctic actiuQuasarsBlack holes (Astronomy)Active galactic nucleiinfo:eu-repo/semantics/article7538022025-01-30info:eu-repo/semantics/openAccess