Astronomy and Astrophysics – Astrophysics
Scientific paper
1996-10-15
Astronomy and Astrophysics
Astrophysics
16 Latex pages, 2 Postscript figures, uses aastex, epsf.sty. Submitted to The Astronomical Journal, October 1996
Scientific paper
10.1086/118341
We extract the shape of the stellar velocity ellipsoid as a function of radius in M87 from van der Marel's (1994) velocity dispersion data. We include the gravitational force of a central black hole with the mass quoted by Harms et al. (1994). The kinematical data are corrected for the effects of seeing and instrumental blurring using a nonparametric algorithm. We find that the stellar motions in M87 are slightly radially anisotropic throughout the main body of the galaxy. However the tangential velocity dispersion exceeds the radial velocity dispersion within the inner 1''-2'' by a statistically significant amount. A number of models for the formation of nuclear black holes predict a tangential anisotropy in the stellar motions, and our results provide evidence for such an effect in M87.
Merritt David
Oh Siang Peng
No associations
LandOfFree
The Stellar Dynamics of M87 does not yet have a rating. At this time, there are no reviews or comments for this scientific paper.
If you have personal experience with The Stellar Dynamics of M87, we encourage you to share that experience with our LandOfFree.com community. Your opinion is very important and The Stellar Dynamics of M87 will most certainly appreciate the feedback.
Profile ID: LFWR-SCP-O-141588