The Compact Disk of Blue Stars Orbiting the M31 Black Hole

Details The Compact Disk of Blue Stars Orbiting the M31 Black Hole The Compact Disk of Blue Stars Orbiting the M31 Black Hole

Jul 2005

adsabs.harvard.edu/cgi-bin/nph-data_query?bibcode=2005hst..prop10571l&link_type=abstract

HST Proposal ID #10571

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Hst Proposal Id #10571 Galaxies

Scientific paper

We propose ACS/HRC U and B band imaging of the compact cluster of blue stars at the precise center of M31, which hosts the 1.3X10^8 solar-mass nuclear black hole. Analysis of STIS spectra and WFPC2 images suggest that the cluster is actually a disk. Recovering an accurate light distribution of the disk is essential for obtaining a precise estimate of the black hole mass from the STIS spectra, an approach that is attractive as it bypasses modeling the complex structure and dynamics of the M31 double nucleus by using the Keplerian rotation of the blue disk as a direct mass indicator. Dithered ACS/HRC observations in the blue provide the best spatial resolution available from HST, which is 2X finer than could be obtained by the WFPC2 observations that first elucidated the structure of the blue cluster. The cluster effective radius {barely resolved by WFPC2} is only 0.06'', thus the ultimate resolution and improved S/N offered by re-observation with ACS/HRC are essential to fully understand the disk inclination and radial starlight distribution. Analysis of the "smoothness" of the blue light distribution may also reveal its composition. The low-luminosity of the disk, M{AB}=-5.5 can be produced by only a few hundred A-stars, a small enough number that fluctuation statistics should leave an obvious signature on the light distribution.

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