Supermassive black holes and their host spheroids. III. The M{sub BH}–n{sub sph} correlation

Journal Article · Wed Apr 20 04:00:00 EDT 2016 · Astrophysical Journal

DOI:https://doi.org/10.3847/0004-637X/821/2/88· OSTI ID:22890062

Savorgnan, Giulia A. D., ^[1]

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1. Centre for Astrophysics and Supercomputing, Swinburne University of Technology, Hawthorn, Victoria 3122 (Australia)

The Sérsic R{sup 1/n} model is the best approximation known to date for describing the light distribution of stellar spheroidal and disk components, with the Sérsic index n providing a direct measure of the central radial concentration of stars. The Sérsic index of a galaxy’s spheroidal component, n{sub sph}, has been shown to tightly correlate with the mass of the central supermassive black hole, M{sub BH}. The M{sub BH}--n{sub sph} correlation is also expected from other two well known scaling relations involving the spheroid luminosity, L{sub sph}: the L{sub sph}--n{sub sph} and the M{sub BH}--L{sub sph}. Obtaining an accurate estimate of the spheroid Sérsic index requires a careful modeling of a galaxy’s light distribution and some studies have failed to recover a statistically significant M{sub BH}--n{sub sph} correlation. With the aim of re-investigating the M{sub BH}--n{sub sph} and other black hole mass scaling relations, we performed a detailed (i.e., bulge, disks, bars, spiral arms, rings, halo, nucleus, etc.) decomposition of 66 galaxies, with directly measured black hole masses, that had been imaged at 3.6 μm with Spitzer. In this paper, the third of this series, we present an analysis of the L{sub sph}--n{sub sph} and M{sub BH}--n{sub sph} diagrams. While early-type (elliptical+lenticular) and late-type (spiral) galaxies split into two separate relations in the L{sub sph}--n{sub sph} and M{sub BH}--L{sub sph} diagrams, they reunite into a single M{sub BH}∝n{sub sph}{sup 3.39±0.15} sequence with relatively small intrinsic scatter (ϵ≃0.25 dex). The black hole mass appears to be closely related to the spheroid central concentration of stars, which mirrors the inner gradient of the spheroid gravitational potential.

• OSTI ID: 22890062
• Journal Information: Astrophysical Journal, Journal Name: Astrophysical Journal Journal Issue: 2 Vol. 821; ISSN ASJOAB; ISSN 0004-637X
• Country of Publication: United Kingdom
• Language: English

Related Subjects

79 ASTRONOMY AND ASTROPHYSICS
BLACK HOLES
COMPUTERIZED SIMULATION
CONCENTRATION RATIO
DECOMPOSITION
DISTRIBUTION
GALACTIC EVOLUTION
GALAXIES
LUMINOSITY
MASS
SUPERMASSIVE STARS