X-ray properties of galaxy groups can unlock some of the most challenging research topics in modern extragalactic astronomy: the growth of structure and its influence on galaxy formation. Only with the advent of the Chandra and XMM-Newton facilities have X-ray observations reached the depths required to address these questions in a satisfactory manner. Here we present an X-ray imaging study of two patches from the CNOC2 spectroscopic galaxy survey using combined Chandra and XMM-Newton data. A state of the art extended source finding algorithm has been applied, and the resultant source catalog, including redshifts from a spectroscopic follow-up program, is presented. The total number of spectroscopically identified groups is 25 spanning a redshift range 0.04-0.79. Approximately 50% of CNOC2 spectroscopically selected groups in the deeper X-ray ( RA14h) field are likely X-ray detections, compared to 20% in the shallower ( RA21h) field. Statistical modeling shows that this is consistent with expectations, assuming an expected evolution of the LX-M relation. A significant detection of a stacked shear signal for both spectroscopic and X-ray groups indicates that both samples contain real groups of about the expected mass. We conclude that the current area and depth of X-ray and spectroscopic facilities provide a unique window of opportunity at z similar to 0.4 to test the X-ray appearance of galaxy groups selected in various ways. There is at present no evidence that the correlation between X-ray luminosity and velocity dispersion evolves significantly with redshift, which implies that catalogs based on either method can be fairly compared and modeled.

We present the first luminous, spatially resolved binary quasar that clearly inhabits an ongoing galaxy merger. SDSS J125455.09+084653.9 and SDSS J125454.87+084652.1 (SDSS J1254+0846 hereafter) are two luminous z = 0.44 radio-quiet quasars, with a radial velocity difference of just 215 km s(-1), separated on the sky by 21 kpc in a disturbed host galaxy merger showing obvious tidal tails. The pair was targeted as part of a complete sample of binary quasar candidates with small transverse separations drawn from SDSS DR6 photometry. We present follow-up optical imaging which shows broad, symmetrical tidal arm features spanning some 75 kpc at the quasars' redshift. Previously, the triggering of two quasars during a merger had only been hypothesized but our observations provide strong evidence of such an event. SDSS J1254+0846, as a face-on, pre-coalescence merger hosting two luminous quasars separated by a few dozen kpc, provides a unique opportunity to probe quasar activity in an ongoing gas-rich merger. Numerical modeling suggests that the system consists of two massive disk galaxies prograde to their mutual orbit, caught during the first passage of an active merger. This demonstrates rapid black hole growth during the early stages of a merger between galaxies with pre-existing bulges. Neither of the two luminous nuclei show significant intrinsic absorption by gas or dust in our optical or X-ray observations, illustrating that not all merging quasars will be in an obscured, ultraluminous phase. We find that the Eddington ratio for the fainter component B is rather normal, while for the A component L/L-Edd is quite (> 3 sigma) high compared to quasars of similar luminosity and redshift, possibly evidence for strong merger-triggered accretion. More such mergers should be identifiable at higher redshifts using binary quasars as tracers.

We present the first luminous, spatially resolved binary quasar that clearly inhabits an ongoing galaxy merger. SDSS J125455.09+084653.9 and SDSS J125454.87+084652.1 (SDSS J1254+0846 hereafter) are two luminous z = 0.44 radio-quiet quasars, with a radial velocity difference of just 215 km s(-1), separated on the sky by 21 kpc in a disturbed host galaxy merger showing obvious tidal tails. The pair was targeted as part of a complete sample of binary quasar candidates with small transverse separations drawn from SDSS DR6 photometry. We present follow-up optical imaging which shows broad, symmetrical tidal arm features spanning some 75 kpc at the quasars' redshift. Previously, the triggering of two quasars during a merger had only been hypothesized but our observations provide strong evidence of such an event. SDSS J1254+0846, as a face-on, pre-coalescence merger hosting two luminous quasars separated by a few dozen kpc, provides a unique opportunity to probe quasar activity in an ongoing gas-rich merger. Numerical modeling suggests that the system consists of two massive disk galaxies prograde to their mutual orbit, caught during the first passage of an active merger. This demonstrates rapid black hole growth during the early stages of a merger between galaxies with pre-existing bulges. Neither of the two luminous nuclei show significant intrinsic absorption by gas or dust in our optical or X-ray observations, illustrating that not all merging quasars will be in an obscured, ultraluminous phase. We find that the Eddington ratio for the fainter component B is rather normal, while for the A component L/L-Edd is quite (> 3 sigma) high compared to quasars of similar luminosity and redshift, possibly evidence for strong merger-triggered accretion. More such mergers should be identifiable at higher redshifts using binary quasars as tracers.

We present the first luminous, spatially resolved binary quasar that clearly inhabits an ongoing galaxy merger. SDSS J125455.09+084653.9 and SDSS J125454.87+084652.1 (SDSS J1254+0846 hereafter) are two luminous z = 0.44 radio-quiet quasars, with a radial velocity difference of just 215 km s(-1), separated on the sky by 21 kpc in a disturbed host galaxy merger showing obvious tidal tails. The pair was targeted as part of a complete sample of binary quasar candidates with small transverse separations drawn from SDSS DR6 photometry. We present follow-up optical imaging which shows broad, symmetrical tidal arm features spanning some 75 kpc at the quasars' redshift. Previously, the triggering of two quasars during a merger had only been hypothesized but our observations provide strong evidence of such an event. SDSS J1254+0846, as a face-on, pre-coalescence merger hosting two luminous quasars separated by a few dozen kpc, provides a unique opportunity to probe quasar activity in an ongoing gas-rich merger. Numerical modeling suggests that the system consists of two massive disk galaxies prograde to their mutual orbit, caught during the first passage of an active merger. This demonstrates rapid black hole growth during the early stages of a merger between galaxies with pre-existing bulges. Neither of the two luminous nuclei show significant intrinsic absorption by gas or dust in our optical or X-ray observations, illustrating that not all merging quasars will be in an obscured, ultraluminous phase. We find that the Eddington ratio for the fainter component B is rather normal, while for the A component L/L-Edd is quite (> 3 sigma) high compared to quasars of similar luminosity and redshift, possibly evidence for strong merger-triggered accretion. More such mergers should be identifiable at higher redshifts using binary quasars as tracers.

We present the first luminous, spatially resolved binary quasar that clearly inhabits an ongoing galaxy merger. SDSS J125455.09+084653.9 and SDSS J125454.87+084652.1 (SDSS J1254+0846 hereafter) are two luminous z = 0.44 radio-quiet quasars, with a radial velocity difference of just 215 km s(-1), separated on the sky by 21 kpc in a disturbed host galaxy merger showing obvious tidal tails. The pair was targeted as part of a complete sample of binary quasar candidates with small transverse separations drawn from SDSS DR6 photometry. We present follow-up optical imaging which shows broad, symmetrical tidal arm features spanning some 75 kpc at the quasars' redshift. Previously, the triggering of two quasars during a merger had only been hypothesized but our observations provide strong evidence of such an event. SDSS J1254+0846, as a face-on, pre-coalescence merger hosting two luminous quasars separated by a few dozen kpc, provides a unique opportunity to probe quasar activity in an ongoing gas-rich merger. Numerical modeling suggests that the system consists of two massive disk galaxies prograde to their mutual orbit, caught during the first passage of an active merger. This demonstrates rapid black hole growth during the early stages of a merger between galaxies with pre-existing bulges. Neither of the two luminous nuclei show significant intrinsic absorption by gas or dust in our optical or X-ray observations, illustrating that not all merging quasars will be in an obscured, ultraluminous phase. We find that the Eddington ratio for the fainter component B is rather normal, while for the A component L/L-Edd is quite (> 3 sigma) high compared to quasars of similar luminosity and redshift, possibly evidence for strong merger-triggered accretion. More such mergers should be identifiable at higher redshifts using binary quasars as tracers.

We have performed a systematic search for X-ray cavities in the hot gas of 51 galaxy groups with Chandra archival data. The cavities are identified based on two methods: subtracting an elliptical beta-model fitted to the X-ray surface brightness, and performing unsharp masking. Thirteen groups in the sample (similar to 25%) are identified as clearly containing cavities, with another 13 systems showing tentative evidence for such structures. We find tight correlations between the radial and tangential radii of the cavities, and between their size and projected distance from the group center, in quantitative agreement with the case for more massive clusters. This suggests that similar physical processes are responsible for cavity evolution and disruption in systems covering a large range in total mass. We see no clear association between the detection of cavities and the current 1.4 GHz radio luminosity of the central brightest group galaxy, but there is a clear tendency for systems with a cool core to be more likely to harbor detectable cavities. To test the efficiency of the adopted cavity detection procedures, we employ a set of mock images designed to mimic typical Chandra data of our sample, and find that the model-fitting approach is generally more reliable than unsharp masking for recovering cavity properties. Finally, we find that the detectability of cavities is strongly influenced by a few factors, particularly the signal-to-noise ratio of the data, and that the real fraction of X-ray groups with prominent cavities could be substantially larger than the 25%-50% suggested by our analysis.