Physics
Scientific paper
Jul 2009
adsabs.harvard.edu/cgi-bin/nph-data_query?bibcode=2009hst..prop12187h&link_type=abstract
HST Proposal ID #12187. Cycle 18
Physics
Scientific paper
The correlation between central black hole {BH} mass and bulge stellar velocity dispersion has become a fundamental tool to investigate the link between BH growth and galaxy formation. However, the current BH census in nearby galaxies is highly biased toward early-type galaxies. It is important to increase the number of direct BH mass measurements along the spiral sequence, not only to better delineate the M-sigma relation but also to verify tentative claims that the scatter and zero point of the relation may vary with galaxy morphology and the formation history of the bulge. With these goals in mind, we carried out an ACS/WFC narrow-band {F658N} imaging survey of nearby S0-Sbc galaxies to identify circumnuclear Halpha disks suitable for follow-up STIS spectroscopy. Past experience indicates that such a pre-selection strategy significantly improves the chances of obtaining successful dynamical models to measure BH masses. We found 6 good new candidates of circumnuclear gas disks in spiral galaxies. STIS G750M spectra will be obtained for each source using three parallel slits to map out the gas kinematics in the inner portion of the nuclear disks: a 52X0.1 slit centered on the nucleus and one flanking 52X0.2 slit positioned on each side of the nucleus. We will perform dynamical modeling to measure the central BH masses. If successful, this study will provide a significant increase in the current sample of spirals with secure BH masses, with important ramifications for improving and refining the M-sigma relation.;
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