AN STIS ATLAS OF Ca II TRIPLET ABSORPTION LINE KINEMATICS IN GALACTIC NUCLEI
- Physics and Space Sciences Department, Florida Institute of Technology, 150 West University Boulevard, Melbourne, FL 32901 (United States)
- School of Mathematical and Physical Sciences, University of Sussex, Sussex House, Brighton BN1 9RH (United Kingdom)
- Department of Astronomy, University of Michigan, Ann Arbor, MI 48109 (United States)
The relations observed between supermassive black holes and their host galaxies suggest a fundamental link in the processes that cause these two objects to evolve. A more comprehensive understanding of these relations could be gained by increasing the number of supermassive black hole mass (M{sub .}) measurements. This can be achieved, in part, by continuing to model the stellar dynamics at the centers of galactic bulges using data of the highest possible spatial resolution. Consequently, we present here an atlas of galaxies in the Space Telescope Imaging Spectrograph (STIS) data archive that may have spectra suitable for new M{sub .} estimates. Archived STIS G750M data for all non-barred galactic bulges are co-aligned and combined, where appropriate, and the radial signal-to-noise ratios calculated. The line-of-sight velocity distributions from the Ca II triplet are then determined using a maximum penalized likelihood method. We find 19 out of 42 galaxies may provide useful new M{sub .} estimates since they are found to have data that is comparable in quality with data that has been used in the past to estimate M{sub .}. However, we find no relation between the signal-to-noise ratio in the previously analyzed spectra and the uncertainties of the black hole masses derived from the spectra. We also find that there is a very limited number of appropriately observed stellar templates in the archive from which to estimate the effects of template mismatching.
- OSTI ID:
- 22136549
- Journal Information:
- Astronomical Journal (New York, N.Y. Online), Vol. 146, Issue 3; Other Information: Country of input: International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA); ISSN 1538-3881
- Country of Publication:
- United States
- Language:
- English
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