Astronomy and Astrophysics – Astronomy
Scientific paper
Mar 2008
adsabs.harvard.edu/cgi-bin/nph-data_query?bibcode=2008aas...21115707h&link_type=abstract
American Astronomical Society, AAS Meeting #211, #157.07
Astronomy and Astrophysics
Astronomy
Scientific paper
We present an analysis of the change in galaxies' central black hole to bulge mass ratios with galaxy age. We find an steep growth in the average mass ratio among young galaxies, which flattens as we look towards older stellar populations. The galaxies do not cluster near the average but fill an envelope whose limits show this trend. The trend is visible for elliptical and S0 galaxies in clusters and groups but is absent in field galaxies. Active galaxies cluster at the highest mass ratios for their ages. We propose that the shape of the envelope is qualitatively consistent with scenarios in which major galaxy mergers trigger both star formation and central black hole growth, and one galaxy will undergo multiple mergers over time. The active galaxies are evenly spread across the age range of the sample (over 10 Gyr), indicating that if nuclear activity is triggered by galaxy interactions, then it is often caused by interactions too small to force a burst of star formation (and thus reset our clock). With a stricter sample selection, this analysis could be used to derive the ratio of major to minor galaxy mergers.
Boldt Elihu
Hamilton Timothy S.
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