A SysTematic seaRch fOr Dual Agns in meRgINg Galaxies (ASTRO-DARING) II:
  first results from long-slit spectroscopic observations
  Building a large sample of kiloparsec (kpc)-scale dual active galactic nuclei
(AGNs) amongst merging galaxies is of vital importance to understand the
co-evolution between host galaxies and their central super massive black holes
(SMBHs). Doing so, with just such a sample, we have developed an innovative
method of systematically searching and identifying dual AGNs of amongst kpc
scale merging galaxies and selected 222 candidates at redshifts $\leqslant$
0.25. All the selected candidates have FIRST radio detection and at least one
of two cores previously revealed as AGN spectroscopically. We report the first
results from A SysTematic seaRch fOr Dual Agns in meRgINg Galaxies
(ASTRO-DARING), which consist of spatially resolved long-slit spectroscopic
observations of 41 targets selected from our merging galaxies sample carried
out between November 2014 and February 2017, using the Yunnan Faint Object
Spectrograph and Camera (YFOSC) mounted on the 2.4 meter telescope in Lijiang
of Yunnan Observatories. Of these 16 are likely dual AGNs and 15 are newly
identified. The efficiency of ASTRO-DARING is thus nearly 40 per cent. With
this method, we plan to build the first even sample of more than 50 dual AGNs
constructed using a consistent approach. Further analysis of the dual AGN
sample shall provide vital clues for understanding the co-evolution of galaxies
and SMBHs.
