A quintet of black hole mass determinations

Kayhan Gültekin, Douglas O. Richstone, Karl Gebhardt, Tod R. Lauer, Jason Pinkney, M. C. Aller, Ralf Bender, Alan Dressler, S. M. Faber, Alexei V. Filippenko, Richard Green, Luis C. Ho, John Kormendy, Christos Siopis

Research output: Contribution to journalArticlepeer-review

84 Scopus citations

Abstract

We report five new measurements of central black hole masses based on Space Telescope Imaging Spectrograph and Wide Field Planetary Camera 2 observations with the Hubble Space Telescope (HST) and on axisymmetric, three-integral, Schwarzschild orbit-library kinematic models. We selected a sample of galaxies within a narrow range in velocity dispersion that cover a range of galaxy parameters (including Hubble type and core/powerlaw surface density profile) where we expected to be able to resolve the galaxy's sphere of influence based on the predicted value of the black hole mass from the M-σ relation. We find masses for the following galaxies: NGC3585,MBH = 3.4+1.5-0.6 ×108 M⊙;NGC3607,MBH = 1.2+0.4 -0.4 ×108 M⊙;NGC4026,MBH = 2.1+0.7-0.4 ×108 M⊙; and NGC 5576, MBH = 1.8+0.3-0.4 × 108 M⊙, all significantly excluding MBH = 0. For NGC 3945, MBH = 9+17 -21 × 106 M⊙, which is significantly below predictions from M-σ and M-L relations and consistent with MBH = 0, though the presence of a double bar in this galaxy may present problems for our axisymmetric code.

Original languageEnglish
Pages (from-to)1577-1590
Number of pages14
JournalAstrophysical Journal
Volume695
Issue number2
DOIs
StatePublished - Apr 20 2009

Scopus Subject Areas

  • Astronomy and Astrophysics
  • Space and Planetary Science

Keywords

  • Black hole physics
  • Galaxies: general
  • Galaxies: nuclei
  • Stellar dynamics

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