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Title: The mass of the central black hole in the nearby Seyfert galaxy NGC 5273

Abstract

We present the results of a reverberation-mapping program targeting NGC 5273, a nearby early-type galaxy with a broad-lined active galactic nucleus (AGN). Over the course of the monitoring program, NGC 5273 showed strong variability that allowed us to measure time delays in the responses of the broad optical recombination lines to changes in the continuum flux. A weighted average of these measurements results in a black hole mass determination of M {sub BH} = (4.7 ± 1.6) × 10{sup 6} M {sub ☉}. An estimate of the size of the black hole sphere of influence in NGC 5273 puts it just at the limit of the resolution achievable with current ground-based large aperture telescopes. NGC 5273 is therefore an important future target for a black hole mass determination from stellar dynamical modeling, especially because it is the only nearby early-type galaxy hosting an AGN with a reverberation-based mass, allowing the best comparison for the masses determined from these two techniques.

Authors:
; ; ; ; ; ; ; ; ; ; ;  [1]
  1. Department of Physics and Astronomy, Georgia State University, 25 Park Place, Suite 600, Atlanta, GA 30303 (United States)
Publication Date:
OSTI Identifier:
22370213
Resource Type:
Journal Article
Journal Name:
Astrophysical Journal
Additional Journal Information:
Journal Volume: 796; Journal Issue: 1; Other Information: Country of input: International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA); Journal ID: ISSN 0004-637X
Country of Publication:
United States
Language:
English
Subject:
79 ASTROPHYSICS, COSMOLOGY AND ASTRONOMY; APERTURES; BLACK HOLES; COMPARATIVE EVALUATIONS; GALAXY NUCLEI; MASS; RECOMBINATION; RESOLUTION; SEYFERT GALAXIES; TIME DELAY

Citation Formats

Bentz, Misty C., Horenstein, Daniel, Bazhaw, Craig, Manne-Nicholas, Emily R., Ou-Yang, Benjamin J., Anderson, Matthew, Jones, Jeremy, Norris, Ryan P., Parks, J. Robert, Saylor, Dicy, Teems, Katherine G., and Turner, Clay. The mass of the central black hole in the nearby Seyfert galaxy NGC 5273. United States: N. p., 2014. Web. doi:10.1088/0004-637X/796/1/8.
Bentz, Misty C., Horenstein, Daniel, Bazhaw, Craig, Manne-Nicholas, Emily R., Ou-Yang, Benjamin J., Anderson, Matthew, Jones, Jeremy, Norris, Ryan P., Parks, J. Robert, Saylor, Dicy, Teems, Katherine G., & Turner, Clay. The mass of the central black hole in the nearby Seyfert galaxy NGC 5273. United States. https://doi.org/10.1088/0004-637X/796/1/8
Bentz, Misty C., Horenstein, Daniel, Bazhaw, Craig, Manne-Nicholas, Emily R., Ou-Yang, Benjamin J., Anderson, Matthew, Jones, Jeremy, Norris, Ryan P., Parks, J. Robert, Saylor, Dicy, Teems, Katherine G., and Turner, Clay. 2014. "The mass of the central black hole in the nearby Seyfert galaxy NGC 5273". United States. https://doi.org/10.1088/0004-637X/796/1/8.
@article{osti_22370213,
title = {The mass of the central black hole in the nearby Seyfert galaxy NGC 5273},
author = {Bentz, Misty C. and Horenstein, Daniel and Bazhaw, Craig and Manne-Nicholas, Emily R. and Ou-Yang, Benjamin J. and Anderson, Matthew and Jones, Jeremy and Norris, Ryan P. and Parks, J. Robert and Saylor, Dicy and Teems, Katherine G. and Turner, Clay},
abstractNote = {We present the results of a reverberation-mapping program targeting NGC 5273, a nearby early-type galaxy with a broad-lined active galactic nucleus (AGN). Over the course of the monitoring program, NGC 5273 showed strong variability that allowed us to measure time delays in the responses of the broad optical recombination lines to changes in the continuum flux. A weighted average of these measurements results in a black hole mass determination of M {sub BH} = (4.7 ± 1.6) × 10{sup 6} M {sub ☉}. An estimate of the size of the black hole sphere of influence in NGC 5273 puts it just at the limit of the resolution achievable with current ground-based large aperture telescopes. NGC 5273 is therefore an important future target for a black hole mass determination from stellar dynamical modeling, especially because it is the only nearby early-type galaxy hosting an AGN with a reverberation-based mass, allowing the best comparison for the masses determined from these two techniques.},
doi = {10.1088/0004-637X/796/1/8},
url = {https://www.osti.gov/biblio/22370213}, journal = {Astrophysical Journal},
issn = {0004-637X},
number = 1,
volume = 796,
place = {United States},
year = {Thu Nov 20 00:00:00 EST 2014},
month = {Thu Nov 20 00:00:00 EST 2014}
}