Quasars at early redshifts ( z > 6 ) with companion galaxies offer unique insights into the growth and evolution of the first supermassive black holes .
Here , we report on a 150 ks Chandra observation of PSO J308.0416 - 21.2339 , a z = 6.23 quasar with a merging companion galaxy identified in [ \ion C2 ] and rest-frame UV emission .
With 72.3 ^ { +9.6 } _ { -8.6 } net counts , we find that PSO J308.0416 - 21.2339 is powerful ( L _ { X } = 2.31 ^ { +1.14 } _ { -0.76 } \times 10 ^ { 45 } \textrm { erg } \textrm { s } ^ { -1 } % \textrm { cm } ^ { -2 } in rest frame 2.0 - 10.0 keV ) yet soft ( spectral power-law index \Gamma = 2.39 ^ { +0.37 } _ { -0.36 } and optical-to-X-ray slope \alpha _ { OX } = -1.41 \pm 0.11 ) .
In addition , we detect three hard-energy photons 2 \farcs 0 to the west of the main quasar , cospatial with the brightest UV emission of the merging companion .
As no soft energy photons are detected in the same area , this is potentially indicative of a highly-obscured source .
With conservative assumptions , and accounting for both background fluctuations and the extended wings of the quasar ’ s emission , these photons represent a 2.4 \sigma detection .
If confirmed by deeper observations , this system is the first high redshift quasar and companion individually detected in X-rays and is likely a dual AGN .