EXPLORING THE CORRELATIONS BETWEEN GLOBULAR CLUSTER POPULATIONS AND SUPERMASSIVE BLACK HOLES IN GIANT GALAXIES
- Department of Astronomy, Indiana University, 727 East Third Street, Bloomington, IN 47405 (United States)
This paper presents an analysis of the correlation between the number of globular clusters (N{sub GC}) in giant galaxies and the mass of the galaxies' central supermassive black hole (M{sub SMBH}). I construct a sample of 20 elliptical, spiral, and S0 galaxies with known SMBH masses and with accurately measured GC system properties derived from wide-field imaging studies. The coefficients of the best-fitting N{sub GC}-M{sub SMBH} relation for the early-type galaxies are consistent with those from previous work but in some cases have smaller relative errors. I examine the correlation between N{sub GC} and M{sub SMBH} for various subsamples and find that elliptical galaxies show the strongest correlation, while S0 and pseudobulge galaxies exhibit increased scatter. I also compare the quality of the fit of the numbers of metal-poor GCs versus SMBH mass and the corresponding fit for metal-rich GCs. I supplement the 20 galaxy sample with 10 additional galaxies with reliable N{sub GC} determinations but without measured M{sub SMBH}. I use this larger sample to investigate correlations between N{sub GC} and host galaxy properties like total galaxy luminosity and stellar mass, and bulge luminosity and mass. I find that the tightest correlation is between N{sub GC} and total galaxy stellar mass. This lends support to the notion that N{sub GC} and M{sub SMBH} are not directly linked but are correlated because both quantities depend on the host galaxy potential. Finally, I use the N{sub GC}-M{sub SMBH} relation derived from the 20 galaxy sample to calculate predicted M{sub SMBH} values for the 10 galaxies with accurate N{sub GC} measurements but without measured SMBH masses.
- OSTI ID:
- 22089815
- Journal Information:
- Astronomical Journal (New York, N.Y. Online), Vol. 144, Issue 5; Other Information: Country of input: International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA); ISSN 1538-3881
- Country of Publication:
- United States
- Language:
- English
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