The M87 Black Hole Mass from Gas-dynamical Models of Space Telescope Imaging Spectrograph Observations
Apr 26, 2013
11 pages
Published in:
- Astrophys.J. 770 (2013) 86
- Published: 2013
e-Print:
- 1304.7273 [astro-ph.CO]
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Abstract: (IOP)
The supermassive black hole of M87 is one of the most massive black holes known and has been the subject of several stellar and gas-dynamical mass measurements; however, the most recent revision to the stellar-dynamical black hole mass measurement is a factor of about two larger than the previous gas-dynamical determinations. Here, we apply comprehensive gas-dynamical models that include the propagation of emission-line profiles through the telescope and spectrograph optics to new Space Telescope Imaging Spectrograph observations from the Hubble Space Telescope. Unlike the previous gas-dynamical studies of M87, we map out the complete kinematic structure of the emission-line disk within ~40 pc from the nucleus, and find that a small amount of velocity dispersion internal to the gas disk is required to match the observed line widths. We examine a scenario in which the intrinsic velocity dispersion provides dynamical support to the disk, and determine that the inferred black hole mass increases by only 6%. Incorporating this effect into the error budget, we ultimately measure a mass of (68% confidence). Our gas-dynamical black hole mass continues to differ from the most recent stellar-dynamical mass by a factor of two, underscoring the need for carrying out more cross-checks between the two main black hole mass measurement methods.Note:
- 11 pages, 7 figures, accepted for publication in ApJ
- galaxies: active
- galaxies: individual
- galaxies: kinematics and dynamics
- galaxies: nuclei
References(105)
Figures(7)