2017ApJ...836..183S

We present a combined morphological and X-ray analysis of Was 49, an isolated, dual-AGN system notable for the presence of a dominant AGN, Was 49b, in the disk of the primary galaxy, Was 49a, at a projected radial distance of 8 kpc from the nucleus. Using X-ray data from Chandra, the Nuclear Spectroscopic Telescope Array, and Swift, we find that this AGN has a bolometric luminosity of L_bol ∼ 10⁴⁵ erg s^–1, with a black hole mass of M_BH = 1.3_–0.9^+2.9×10⁸ M_☉. Despite the large mass, our analysis of optical data from the Discovery Channel Telescope shows that the supermassive black hole (SMBH) is hosted by a stellar counterpart with a mass of only 5.6_–2.6^+4.9×10⁹ M_☉, which makes the SMBH potentially larger than expected from SMBH-galaxy scaling relations, and the stellar counterpart exhibits a morphology that is consistent with dwarf elliptical galaxies. Our analysis of the system in the r and K bands indicates that Was 49 is a minor merger, with the mass ratio of Was 49b to Was 49a between ∼1:7 and ∼1:15. This is in contrast with findings that the most luminous merger-triggered AGNs are found in major mergers and that minor mergers predominantly enhance AGN activity in the primary galaxy.