THE MEGAMASER COSMOLOGY PROJECT. IX. BLACK HOLE MASSES FOR THREE MASER GALAXIES
- Key Laboratory for Research in Galaxies and Cosmology, Shanghai Astronomical Observatory, Chinese Academy of Science, Shanghai 200030 (China)
- National Radio Astronomy Observatory, 520 Edgemont Road, Charlottesville, VA 22903 (United States)
- Harvard-Smithsonian Center for Astrophysics, 60 Garden Street, Cambridge, MA 02138 (United States)
- Department of Astrophysics, Princeton University, Princeton, NJ 08544 (United States)
- Max-Planck-Institut für Radioastronomie, Auf dem Hügel 69, D-53121 Bonn (Germany)
- Department of Physics, National Sun Yat-Sen University, No.70, Lianhai Road, Gushan Dist., Kaohsiung City 804, Taiwan (China)
- Department of Astronomy, University of Virginia, P.O. Box 400325, Charlottesville, VA 22904 (United States)
As part of the Megamaser Cosmology Project, we present VLBI maps of nuclear water masers toward five galaxies. The masers originate in sub-parsec circumnuclear disks. For three of the galaxies, we fit Keplerian rotation curves to estimate their supermassive black hole (SMBH) masses, and determine (2.9 ± 0.3) × 10{sup 6} M {sub ⊙} for J0437+2456, (1.7 ± 0.1) × 10{sup 7} M {sub ⊙} for ESO 558–G009, and (1.1 ± 0.2) × 10{sup 7} M {sub ⊙} for NGC 5495. In the other two galaxies, Mrk 1029 and NGC 1320, the geometry and dynamics are more complicated and preclude robust black hole mass estimates. Including our new results, we compiled a list of 15 VLBI-confirmed disk maser galaxies with robust SMBH mass measurements. With this sample, we confirm the empirical relation of R {sub out} ∝ 0.3 M {sub SMBH} reported in Wardle and Yusef-Zadeh. We also find a tentative correlation between maser disk outer radii and Wide-Field Infrared Survey Explorer luminosity. We find no correlations of maser disk size with X-ray 2–10 keV luminosity or [O iii] luminosity.
- OSTI ID:
- 22661402
- Journal Information:
- Astrophysical Journal, Vol. 834, Issue 1; Other Information: Country of input: International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA); ISSN 0004-637X
- Country of Publication:
- United States
- Language:
- English
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