Browsing by Subject "luminous elliptic galaxies"

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Hydrostatic Gas Constraints On Supermassive Black Hole Masses: Implications For Hydrostatic Equilibrium And Dynamical Modeling In A Sample Of Early-Type Galaxies
(2009-10) Humphrey, Phillip J.; Buote, David A.; Brighenti, Fabrizio; Gebhardt, Karl; Mathews, William G.; Gebhardt, Karl
We present new mass measurements for the supermassive black holes (SMBHs) in the centers of three early-type galaxies. The gas pressure in the surrounding, hot interstellar medium (ISM) is measured through spatially resolved spectroscopy with the Chandra X-ray Observatory, allowing the SMBH mass (M(BH)) to be inferred directly under the hydrostatic approximation. This technique does not require calibration against other SMBH measurement methods and its accuracy depends only on the ISM being close to hydrostatic, which is supported by the smooth X-ray isophotes of the galaxies. Combined with results from our recent study of the elliptical galaxy NGC4649, this brings the number of galaxies with SMBHs measured in this way to four. Of these, three already have mass determinations from the kinematics of either the stars or a central gas disk, and hence join only a handful of galaxies with MBH measured by more than one technique. We find good agreement between the different methods, providing support for the assumptions implicit in both the hydrostatic and the dynamical models. The stellar mass-to-light ratios for each galaxy inferred by our technique are in agreement with the predictions of stellar population synthesis models assuming a Kroupa initial mass function (IMF). This concurrence implies that no more than similar to 10%-20% of the ISM pressure is nonthermal, unless there is a conspiracy between the shape of the IMF and nonthermal pressure. Finally, we compute Bondi accretion rates (M(bondi)), finding that the two galaxies with the highest M(bondi) exhibit little evidence of X-ray cavities, suggesting that the correlation with the active galactic nuclei jet power takes time to be established.
Is There A Black Hole In NGC 4382?
(2011-11) Gultekin, Kayhan; Richstone, Douglas O.; Gebhardt, Karl; Faber, S. M.; Lauer, Tod R.; Bender, Ralf; Kormendy, John; Pinkney, Jason; Gebhardt, Karl
We present Hubble Space Telescope (HST) Space Telescope Imaging Spectrograph observations of the galaxy NGC 4382 (M85) and axisymmetric models of the galaxy to determine mass-to-light ratio (Gamma(V)) and central black hole mass (M-BH). We find Gamma(V) = 3.74 +/- 0.1 M-circle dot/L-circle dot and M-BH = 1.3(-1.2)(+5.2) x 10(7) M-circle dot at an assumed distance of 17.9 Mpc, consistent with no black hole. The upper limit, M-BH < 9.6 x 10(7) M-circle dot (2 sigma) or M-BH < 1.4 x 10(8)(3 sigma), is consistent with the current M-sigma relation, which predicts M-BH = 8.8 x 10(7) M-circle dot at sigma(e) = 182 km s(-1), but low for the current M-L relation, which predicts M-BH = 7.8 x 10(8) M-circle dot at L-V = 8.9 x 10(10) L-circle dot, (V). HST images show the nucleus to be double, suggesting the presence of a nuclear eccentric stellar disk, analogous to the Tremaine disk in M31. This conclusion is supported by the HST velocity dispersion profile. Despite the presence of this non-axisymmetric feature and evidence of a recent merger, we conclude that the reliability of our black hole mass determination is not hindered. The inferred low black hole mass may explain the lack of nuclear activity.