MGC 2214+3550: A New Binary Quasar

We report the discovery of a binary quasar, MGC 2214+3550A,B, whose components have similar optical spectra at a redshift of z=0.88. The quasars are separated on the sky by 3.″0 and have a magnitude difference of ΔmI=0.5 mag. The VLA radio map at 3.6 cm shows a single 47 mJy radio source with a core-jet morphology that is coincident with the brighter optical quasar A. Gravitational lensing is ruled out by the lack of radio emission from quasar B and the lack of any visible galaxies to act as the lens. We conclude that MGC 2214+3550A and B are physically associated. With a projected separation of 12.7 h−1 kpc (Ω0=1), MGC 2214+3550A,B is one of the smallest z>0.5 binary quasars.