A BCG in the making from wet major mergers

The brightest central galaxies (BCGs) are the largest and the most massive galaxies in the universe. Their origin is still under debate but major mergers should play a key role. While there have been several dramatic examples of local BCGs forming via dry mergers, BCGs are believed to mainly form with wet major mergers at high z and there has not been a local analog of such systems. We have searched for BCGs forming via wet major mergers in the local universe and have found a spectacular example of a trio of star forming galaxies with comparable luminosities and within 15 kpc from each other. We propose joint Chandra/HST observations to study AGN, ULXs, diffuse X-ray emission and mergers in this rare system. The results will shed light on the important early stage of BCG formation.