We have obtained a 110 ksec Chandra ACIS-S exposure of UM425 , a pair of QSOs at z = 1.47 separated by 6.5″ , which show remarkably similar emission and broad absorption line ( BAL ) profiles in the optical/UV .
Our 5000 count X-ray spectrum of UM425A ( the brighter component ) is well-fit with a power law ( photon spectral index \Gamma = 2.0 ) partially covered by a hydrogen column of 3.8 \times 10 ^ { 22 } cm ^ { -2 } .
The underlying power-law slope for this object and for other recent samples of BALQSOs is typical of radio-quiet quasars , lending credence to the hypothesis that BALs exist in every quasar .
Assuming the same \Gamma for the much fainter image of UM425B , we detect an obscuring column 5 times larger .
We search for evidence of an appropriately large lensing mass in our Chandra image and find weak diffuse emission near the quasar pair , with an X-ray flux typical of a group of galaxies at redshift z \sim 0.6 .
From our analysis of archival HST WFPC2 and NICMOS images , we find no evidence for a luminous lensing galaxy , but note a 3- \sigma excess of galaxies in the UM425 field with plausible magnitudes for a z = 0.6 
galaxy group .
However , the associated X-ray emission does not imply sufficient mass to produce the observed image splitting .
The lens scenario thus requires a dark ( high M / L ratio ) lens , or a fortuitous configuration of masses along the line of sight .
UM425 may instead be a close binary pair of BALQSOs , which would boost arguments that interactions and mergers increase nuclear activity and outflows .