Measuring Black Hole Masses in Broad- Lined AGNs

Mathematics – Logic

Scientific paper

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Hst Proposal Id #7403 Agn/Quasars

Scientific paper

Broad emission lines in AGNs are considered one of the most direct signatures of a large central mass, which is presumed to be a black hole. However, the black hole mass has been measured dynamically for only one broad-lined AGN, NGC 4258. We propose STIS and WFPC2 observations with which we will attempt to determine the central masses of 6 nearby broad- lined AGNs. Our sample is selected from the Palomar Observatory Dwarf Seyfert Survey, and we have chosen galaxies which show unusually steep nuclear rotation curves in order to maximize our chances of success. For these 6 galaxies, we propose to obtain STIS long-slit spectroscopy with the G750M grating of the [NII]-HAlpha wavelength region at five parallel slit positions covering the nuclear region. We will use the resulting two-dimensional velocity map to test for circular rotation and to measure dynamical masses at sub-arcsecond scales where a supermassive black hole may dominate the gravitational potential. We also r eq uest narrow-band and broad-band WFPC2 images of two of our galaxies to search for morphological evidence for ionized gas disks such as those discovered by HST in M87 and NGC 4261, and to assess the contribution of normal stars to the gravitational potential. The other four galaxies have suitable WFPC2 observations available or pending, and for these we will use the archival data.

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