092251

Interacting triple galaxy systems are unique environments where AGN activity isenhanced and kpc-scale environmental properties such as dust levels appear tobe linked with the nuclear (pc-scale) gas levels. Studying the population ofnearby triple galaxy systems is therefore critical to understanding the physicaldrivers behind SMBH accretion and the link between environment and black holegrowth. We propose to observe 12 nearby (0.018 and amp lt z and amp lt 0.088) triple galaxysystems with XMM-Newton and measure the number of AGN in each system. Resultsfrom this study will lead to a better understanding of the environmentaldependencies of AGN activity in merging environments and will constrain thefraction of AGN in nearby triple galaxy systems. [truncated! Please see actual data for full text]