DO QUIESCENT AND ACTIVE GALAXIES HAVE DIFFERENT M{sub BH}-{sigma}{sub *} RELATIONS?

Journal Article · Sat Jul 20 04:00:00 EDT 2013 · Astrophysical Journal

DOI:https://doi.org/10.1088/0004-637X/772/1/49· OSTI ID:22121852

Woo, Jong-Hak; Park, Daeseong; Kang, Wol-Rang ^[1]; Schulze, Andreas ^[2]; Kim, Sang Chul ^[3]

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1. Astronomy Program, Department of Physics and Astronomy, Seoul National University, 1 Gwanak-ro Gwanak-gu, Seoul, 151-742 (Korea, Republic of)
2. Kavli Institute for Astronomy and Astrophysics, Peking University, 100871 Beijing (China)
3. Korea Astronomy and Space Science Institute, Daejeon 305-348 (Korea, Republic of)

To investigate the validity of the assumption that quiescent galaxies and active galaxies follow the same black hole mass (M{sub BH})-stellar velocity dispersion ({sigma}{sub *}) relation, as required for the calibration of M{sub BH} estimators for broad line active galactic nuclei (AGNs), we determine and compare the M{sub BH}-{sigma}{sub *} relations, respectively, for quiescent and active galaxies. For the quiescent galaxy sample, composed of 72 dynamical M{sub BH} measurements, we update {sigma}{sub *} for 28 galaxies using homogeneous H-band measurements that are corrected for galaxy rotation. For active galaxies, we collect 25 reverberation-mapped AGNs and improve {sigma}{sub *} measurement for two objects. Combining the two samples, we determine the virial factor f, first by scaling the active galaxy sample to the M{sub BH}-{sigma}{sub *} relation of quiescent galaxies, and second by simultaneously fitting the quiescent and active galaxy samples, as f=5.1{sub -1.1}{sup +1.5} and f=5.9{sub -1.5}{sup +2.1}, respectively. The M{sub BH}-{sigma}{sub *} relation of active galaxies appears to be shallower than that of quiescent galaxies. However, the discrepancy is caused by a difference in the accessible M{sub BH} distribution at given {sigma}{sub *}, primarily due to the difficulty of measuring reliable stellar velocity dispersion for the host galaxies of luminous AGNs. Accounting for the selection effects, we find that active and quiescent galaxies are consistent with following intrinsically the same M{sub BH}-{sigma}{sub *} relation.

• OSTI ID: 22121852
• Journal Information: Astrophysical Journal, Journal Name: Astrophysical Journal Journal Issue: 1 Vol. 772; ISSN ASJOAB; ISSN 0004-637X
• Country of Publication: United States
• Language: English

Related Subjects

79 ASTRONOMY AND ASTROPHYSICS
BLACK HOLES
CALIBRATION
GALAXIES
MASS
ROTATION
SCALING
VELOCITY