Direct evidence for gravitational domination of the motion of gas within one light-week of the central object in NGC 4151 and the determination of the mass of the probable black hole

Details Direct evidence for gravitational domination of the motion of gas within one light-week of the central object in NGC 4151 and the determination of the mass of the probable black hole Direct evidence for gravitational domination of the motion of gas within one light-week of the central object in NGC 4151 and the determination of the mass of the probable black hole

Feb 1988

adsabs.harvard.edu/cgi-bin/nph-data_query?bibcode=1988apj...325..114g&link_type=abstract

Astrophysical Journal, Part 1 (ISSN 0004-637X), vol. 325, Feb. 1, 1988, p. 114-118.

Astronomy and Astrophysics

Astronomy

91

Black Holes (Astronomy), Galactic Nuclei, Gas Dynamics, Quasars, Seyfert Galaxies, Carbon, Cross Correlation, Error Analysis, Magnesium, Monte Carlo Method, Ultraviolet Spectra

Scientific paper

A practical method is demonstrated for determining the average direction of motion of broad-line region gas in quasars. Analysis of the variability of the blue and red wings of the C Ιv λ1549 and Mg ΙΙ λ 2798 lines and the UV continuum in the low-luminosity quasar in NGC 4151 reveals that the red sides of both lines lead to blue sides in their variations. Outflow of the high-velocity gas (v> 5000 km s-1) emitting the C Ιv and Mg ΙΙ lines is excluded at the 99.5% confidence level. The dominant motion of the gas is most likely to inward, although totally random or chaotic motions are excluded only at the 93% level. It is suggested th the gravitational domination of the motion of the broad4ine region clouds at small radii is a consequence their high densities (Ne> 1011 cm-3). The demonstration that the broad-line region has its motions dominated by gravity (versus domination by a wind or radiation pressure) puts black hole accretion models on an observational footing and permits the first simple kinematic determination of the mass of the black hole a galactic nucleus. The mass if 5 x 107 Msun if the gas is indeed inflowing.

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