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Title: The Mass of the Black Hole in NGC 5273 from Stellar Dynamical Modeling
Abstract

We present a new constraint on the mass of the black hole in the active S0 galaxy NGC 5273. Due to the proximity of the galaxy at 16.6 ± 2.1 Mpc, we were able to resolve and extract the bulk motions of stars near the central black hole using adaptive-optics-assisted observations with the Gemini Near-infrared Integral Field Spectrograph, as well as constrain the large-scale kinematics using archival Spectroscopic Areal Unit for Research and Optical Nebulae spectroscopy. High-resolution Hubble Space Telescope imaging allowed us to generate a surface-brightness decomposition, determine approximate mass-to-light ratios for the bulge and disk, and obtain an estimate for the disk inclination. We constructed an extensive library of dynamical models using the Schwarzschild orbit-superposition code FORSTAND, exploring a range of disk and bulge shapes, halo masses, etc. We determined a black hole mass ofM= [0.5–2] × 107M, where the low side of the range is in agreement with the reverberation mapping measurement ofM= [4.7 ± 1.6] × 106M. NGC 5273 is one of the few nearby galaxies that hosts a broad-lined active galactic nucleus, allowing a crucial comparison of black hole masses derived from independent mass-measurement techniques.

 
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Award ID(s):
2009230 2009122
NSF-PAR ID:
10415065
Author(s) / Creator(s):
; ; ; ;
Publisher / Repository:
DOI PREFIX: 10.3847
Date Published:
Journal Name:
The Astrophysical Journal
Volume:
949
Issue:
1
ISSN:
0004-637X
Page Range / eLocation ID:
Article No. 13
Format(s):
Medium: X
Sponsoring Org:
National Science Foundation
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