STIS spectroscopy of the central 10 parsecs of M81: Evidence for a massive black hole

Nick Devereux; Holland Ford; Zlatan Tsvetanov; George Jacoby

doi:10.1086/367595

STIS spectroscopy of the central 10 parsecs of M81: Evidence for a massive black hole

Nick Devereux^*, Holland Ford, Zlatan Tsvetanov, George Jacoby

^*Corresponding author for this work

Research output: Contribution to journal › Article › peer-review

83 Citations (Scopus)

Abstract

Spectroscopic observations of the central 10 pc of M81 were obtained with STIS on board the Hubble Space Telescope during Cycle 7. Measurements of the Hα+[N II] blend reveal a velocity field indicative of a rotating disk of gas. The two-dimensional velocity field has been modeled as a thin disk rotating in a spherical gravitational potential. Minimizing the difference between the model and the observations allows useful constraints to be placed on the mass of the black hole in this mini Seyfert 1 galaxy. The data suggest that the mass of the nuclear black hole in M81 is 7.0_-1⁺² × 10⁷ M_⊙ and that the normal to the disk is inclined at an angle of 14° ± 2° to the line of sight.

Original language	English
Pages (from-to)	1226-1235
Number of pages	10
Journal	Astronomical Journal
Volume	125
Issue number	3 1767
DOIs	https://doi.org/10.1086/367595
Publication status	Published - Mar 2003
Externally published	Yes

Keywords

Galaxies: Seyfert
Galaxies: individual (M81, NGC 3031)

Access to Document

10.1086/367595

Cite this

@article{9d9bb5fc5a57467c8dcebf7a817e609e,

title = "STIS spectroscopy of the central 10 parsecs of M81: Evidence for a massive black hole",

abstract = "Spectroscopic observations of the central 10 pc of M81 were obtained with STIS on board the Hubble Space Telescope during Cycle 7. Measurements of the Hα+[N II] blend reveal a velocity field indicative of a rotating disk of gas. The two-dimensional velocity field has been modeled as a thin disk rotating in a spherical gravitational potential. Minimizing the difference between the model and the observations allows useful constraints to be placed on the mass of the black hole in this mini Seyfert 1 galaxy. The data suggest that the mass of the nuclear black hole in M81 is 7.0-1+2 × 107 M⊙ and that the normal to the disk is inclined at an angle of 14° ± 2° to the line of sight.",

keywords = "Galaxies: Seyfert, Galaxies: individual (M81, NGC 3031)",

author = "Nick Devereux and Holland Ford and Zlatan Tsvetanov and George Jacoby",

year = "2003",

month = mar,

doi = "10.1086/367595",

language = "English",

volume = "125",

pages = "1226--1235",

journal = "Astronomical Journal",

issn = "0004-6256",

publisher = "American Astronomical Society",

number = "3 1767",

}

TY - JOUR

T1 - STIS spectroscopy of the central 10 parsecs of M81

T2 - Evidence for a massive black hole

AU - Devereux, Nick

AU - Ford, Holland

AU - Tsvetanov, Zlatan

AU - Jacoby, George

PY - 2003/3

Y1 - 2003/3

N2 - Spectroscopic observations of the central 10 pc of M81 were obtained with STIS on board the Hubble Space Telescope during Cycle 7. Measurements of the Hα+[N II] blend reveal a velocity field indicative of a rotating disk of gas. The two-dimensional velocity field has been modeled as a thin disk rotating in a spherical gravitational potential. Minimizing the difference between the model and the observations allows useful constraints to be placed on the mass of the black hole in this mini Seyfert 1 galaxy. The data suggest that the mass of the nuclear black hole in M81 is 7.0-1+2 × 107 M⊙ and that the normal to the disk is inclined at an angle of 14° ± 2° to the line of sight.

AB - Spectroscopic observations of the central 10 pc of M81 were obtained with STIS on board the Hubble Space Telescope during Cycle 7. Measurements of the Hα+[N II] blend reveal a velocity field indicative of a rotating disk of gas. The two-dimensional velocity field has been modeled as a thin disk rotating in a spherical gravitational potential. Minimizing the difference between the model and the observations allows useful constraints to be placed on the mass of the black hole in this mini Seyfert 1 galaxy. The data suggest that the mass of the nuclear black hole in M81 is 7.0-1+2 × 107 M⊙ and that the normal to the disk is inclined at an angle of 14° ± 2° to the line of sight.

KW - Galaxies: Seyfert

KW - Galaxies: individual (M81, NGC 3031)

UR - http://www.scopus.com/inward/record.url?scp=0242475296&partnerID=8YFLogxK

U2 - 10.1086/367595

DO - 10.1086/367595

M3 - Article

AN - SCOPUS:0242475296

SN - 0004-6256

VL - 125

SP - 1226

EP - 1235

JO - Astronomical Journal

JF - Astronomical Journal

IS - 3 1767

ER -

STIS spectroscopy of the central 10 parsecs of M81: Evidence for a massive black hole

Abstract

Keywords

Access to Document

Other files and links

Fingerprint

Cite this