Supermassive black holes and their host galaxies. II. The correlation with near-infrared luminosity revisited
- Max-Planck Institut für Astronomie, Königstuhl 17, D-69117 Heidelberg (Germany)
- NRC Herzberg Institute of Astrophysics, 5071 West Saanich Road, Victoria, BC V9E2E7 (Canada)
- GEPI Observatoire de Paris, CNRS, Univ. Paris Diderot, 5 Place Jules Janssen, F-92195 Meudon (France)
We present an investigation of the scaling relations between supermassive black hole (SMBH) masses, M {sub •}, and their host galaxies' K-band bulge (L {sub bul}) and total (L {sub tot}) luminosities. The wide-field WIRCam imager at the Canada-France-Hawaii-Telescope was used to obtain the deepest and highest resolution near-infrared images available for a sample of 35 galaxies with securely measured M {sub •}, selected irrespective of Hubble type. For each galaxy, we derive bulge and total magnitudes using a two-dimensional image decomposition code that allows us to account, if necessary, for large- and small-scale disks, cores, bars, nuclei, rings, envelopes, and spiral arms. We find that the present-day M {sub •}-L {sub bul} and M {sub •}-L {sub tot} relations have consistent intrinsic scatter, suggesting that M {sub •} correlates equally well with bulge and total luminosity of the host. Our analysis provides only mild evidence of a decreased scatter if the fit is restricted to elliptical galaxies. The log-slopes of the M {sub •}-L {sub bul} and M {sub •}-L {sub tot} relations are 0.75 ± 0.10 and 0.92 ± 0.14, respectively. However, while the slope of the M {sub •}-L {sub bul} relation depends on the detail of the image decomposition, the characterization of M {sub •}-L {sub tot} does not. Given the difficulties and ambiguities of decomposing galaxy images into separate components, our results indicate that L {sub tot} is more suitable as a tracer of SMBH mass than L {sub bul}, and that the M {sub •}-L {sub tot} relation should be used when studying the co-evolution of SMBHs and galaxies.
- OSTI ID:
- 22348324
- Journal Information:
- Astrophysical Journal, Vol. 780, 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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