"A Normal Supermassive Black Hole In NGC 1277" by Alister W. Graham, Mark Durré et al.
 

Document Type

Article

Publication Title

The Astrophysical Journal

Abstract

The identification of galaxies with “overly massive” black holes requires two measurements: a black hole mass (Mbh) and a host spheroid mass (Msph,*). Here we provide our measurements for NGC 1277. Our structural decomposition reveals that NGC 1277 is dominated by a “classical” spheroid with a Sérsic index n = 5.3, a half-light radius Rₑmajor: You have a new taskSpace: You have a new task,major = 2.1 kpc, and a stellar mass of 2.7 10^11 11 M⊙ (using M*/ LV = 11.65, Martín-Navarro et al.). This mass is an order of magnitude greater than originally reported. Using the latest Mbh–n, Mbh–Msph,*, and Mbh–σ relations, the expected black hole mass is, respectively, (0.57 ± ^1.29 _0.40) x10^ 9 M⊙, (1.58 ± ^4.04 _1.13) x 10^9 M⊙, and (2.27 ± ^4.04 _1.44) x 10^9 M⊙ (using σ = 300 km s−1) for which the “sphere-of-influence” is 0". 31. Our new kinematical maps obtained from laser guide star assisted, adaptive optics on the Keck I Telescope dramatically reaffirm the presence of the inner, nearly edge-on, disk seen in the galaxy image. We also report that this produces a large velocity shear (∼400 km s^−1) across the inner 0". 2 (70 pc) plus elevated values of √σ^2+V^2 across the inner (+-3". 8) x (+ -0". 6) region of the galaxy. Our new multi-Gaussian expansion (MGE) models and Jeans Anisotropic MGE analysis struggled to match this extended component. Our optimal black hole mass, albeit a probable upper limit because of the disk is 1.2 × 10^9 M⊙ (M/LV = 12.3). This is an order of magnitude smaller than originally reported and 4 times smaller than recently reported. It gives an Mbh/Msph,* ratio of 0.45% in agreement with the median (≈0.5%) and range (0.1%–5.0%) observed in non-dwarf, early-type galaxies. This result highlights the need for caution with inner disks.

DOI

10.3847/0004-637X/819/1/43

Publication Date

3-1-2016

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