Program: GN-2011A-Q-81

One of the great mysteries surrounding active galactic nuclei (AGN) is their triggering mechanism. While it is established that accretion processes are responsible for the energy emitted, the source of the accreting material is still controversial. Theoretical studies have shown galactic mergers as a strong triggering mechanism to incite AGN activity, yet many recent observational studies of AGN found no increase in their merger rates compared to normal galaxies. If mergers do trigger AGN activity, theoretical studies indicate that multiple AGN may be activated in a single merger. However, these dual AGN are quite rare with only a few recent X-ray discoveries of dual AGN. This may be because merging AGN are obscured by large column densities of circumnuclear gas and dust during the merger that makes them Compton Thick to X-ray emission. Optical emission line diagnostics, however, may detect light from the narrow line region, which is further the AGN and may be seen even if they are Compton Thick. We therefore propose an optical spectroscopic survey using Gemini/GMOS of 12 nearby AGN in close mergers (z<0.05,<15 kpc) with high quality Chandra imaging where only a single AGN was found.