dc.contributor.author | Beifiori, A. | |
dc.contributor.author | Sarzi, M. | |
dc.contributor.author | Corsini, E.M. | |
dc.contributor.author | Bonta, E.D. | |
dc.contributor.author | Pizzella, A. | |
dc.contributor.author | Coccato, L. | |
dc.contributor.author | Bertola, F. | |
dc.date.accessioned | 2009-03-06T11:10:39Z | |
dc.date.available | 2009-03-06T11:10:39Z | |
dc.date.issued | 2009 | |
dc.identifier.citation | Beifiori , A , Sarzi , M , Corsini , E M , Bonta , E D , Pizzella , A , Coccato , L & Bertola , F 2009 , ' Upper limits on the masses of 105 supermassive black holes from Hubble Space Telescope / space telescope imaging spectrograph archival data ' , The Astrophysical Journal , vol. 692 , no. 1 , pp. 856-868 . https://doi.org/10.1088/0004-637X/692/1/856 | |
dc.identifier.issn | 0004-637X | |
dc.identifier.other | dspace: 2299/2994 | |
dc.identifier.uri | http://hdl.handle.net/2299/2994 | |
dc.description | Original article can be found at: http://www.iop.org/EJ/journal/apj Copyright American Astronomical Society. DOI: 10.1088/0004-637X/692/1/856 [Full text of this article is not available in the UHRA] | |
dc.description.abstract | Based on the modeling of the central emission-line width measured over subarcsecond apertures with the Hubble Space Telescope, we present stringent upper bounds on the mass of the central supermassive black hole, M •, for a sample of 105 nearby galaxies (D < 100 Mpc) spanning a wide range of Hubble types (E–Sc) and values of the central stellar velocity dispersion, σc (58-419 km s–1). For the vast majority of the objects, the derived M • upper limits run parallel and above the well-known M •-σc relation independently of the galaxy distance, suggesting that our nebular line-width measurements trace rather well the nuclear gravitational potential. For values of σc between 90 and 220 km s–1, 68% of our upper limits falls immediately above the M •-σc relation without exceeding the expected M • values by more than a factor 4.1. No systematic trends or offsets are observed in this σc range as a function of the galaxy Hubble type or with respect to the presence of a bar. For 6 of our 12 M • upper limits with σc <90 km s–1, our line-width measurements are more sensitive to the stellar contribution to the gravitational potential, either due to the presence of a nuclear stellar cluster or because of a greater distance compared to the other galaxies at the low-σc end of the M •-σc relation. Conversely, our M • upper bounds appear to lie closer to the expected M • in the most massive elliptical galaxies with values of σc above 220 km s–1. Such a flattening of the M •-σc relation at its high-σc end would appear consistent with a coevolution of supermassive black holes and galaxies driven by dry mergers, although better and more consistent measurements for σc and K-band luminosity are needed for these kinds of objects before systematic effects can be ruled out. | en |
dc.format.extent | 629105 | |
dc.language.iso | eng | |
dc.relation.ispartof | The Astrophysical Journal | |
dc.subject | black hole physics | |
dc.title | Upper limits on the masses of 105 supermassive black holes from Hubble Space Telescope / space telescope imaging spectrograph archival data | en |
dc.contributor.institution | School of Physics, Astronomy and Mathematics | |
dc.description.status | Peer reviewed | |
rioxxterms.versionofrecord | 10.1088/0004-637X/692/1/856 | |
rioxxterms.type | Journal Article/Review | |
herts.preservation.rarelyaccessed | true | |