skip to main content


Search for: All records

Creators/Authors contains: "Buote, David A."

Note: When clicking on a Digital Object Identifier (DOI) number, you will be taken to an external site maintained by the publisher. Some full text articles may not yet be available without a charge during the embargo (administrative interval).
What is a DOI Number?

Some links on this page may take you to non-federal websites. Their policies may differ from this site.

  1. Abstract

    We present 0.″22-resolution Atacama Large Millimeter/submillimeter Array (ALMA) observations of CO(2−1) emission from the circumnuclear gas disk in the red nugget relic galaxy PGC 11179. The disk shows regular rotation, with projected velocities near the center of 400 km s−1. We assume the CO emission originates from a dynamically cold, thin disk and fit gas-dynamical models directly to the ALMA data. In addition, we explore systematic uncertainties by testing the impacts of various model assumptions on our results. The supermassive black hole (BH) mass (MBH) is measured to beMBH= (1.91 ± 0.04 [1σstatistical]0.51+0.11[systematic]) × 109M, and theH-band stellar mass-to-light ratioM/LH= 1.620 ± 0.004 [1σstatistical]0.107+0.211[systematic]M/L. ThisMBHis consistent with the BH mass−stellar velocity dispersion relation but over-massive compared to the BH mass−bulge luminosity relation by a factor of 3.7. PGC 11179 is part of a sample of local compact early-type galaxies that are plausible relics ofz∼ 2 red nuggets, and its behavior relative to the scaling relations echoes that of three relic galaxy BHs previously measured with stellar dynamics. These over-massive BHs could suggest that BHs gain most of their mass before their host galaxies do. However, our results could also be explained by greater intrinsic scatter at the high-mass end of the scaling relations, or by systematic differences in gas- and stellar-dynamical methods. AdditionalMBHmeasurements in the sample, including independent cross-checks between molecular gas- and stellar-dynamical methods, will advance our understanding of the co-evolution of BHs and their host galaxies.

     
    more » « less
  2. Abstract

    We present Atacama Large Millimeter/submillimeter Array (ALMA) Cycle 2 observations of CO(2–1) emission from the circumnuclear disks in two early-type galaxies, NGC 1380 and NGC 6861. The disk in each galaxy is highly inclined (i∼ 75°), and the projected velocities of the molecular gas near the galaxy centers are ∼300 km s−1in NGC 1380 and ∼500 km s−1in NGC 6861. We fit thin disk dynamical models to the ALMA data cubes to constrain the masses of the central black holes (BHs). We created host galaxy models using Hubble Space Telescope images for the extended stellar mass distributions and incorporated a range of plausible central dust extinction values. For NGC 1380, our best-fit model yieldsMBH= 1.47 × 108Mwith a ∼40% uncertainty. For NGC 6861, the lack of dynamical tracers within the BH’s sphere of influence due to a central hole in the gas distribution precludes a precise measurement ofMBH. However, our model fits require a value forMBHin the range of (1–3) × 109Min NGC 6861 to reproduce the observations. The BH masses are generally consistent with predictions from local BH–host galaxy scaling relations. Systematic uncertainties associated with dust extinction of the host galaxy light and choice of host galaxy mass model dominate the error budget of both measurements. Despite these limitations, the measurements demonstrate ALMA’s ability to provide constraints on BH masses in cases where the BH’s projected radius of influence is marginally resolved or the gas distribution has a central hole.

     
    more » « less
  3. null (Ed.)
  4. null (Ed.)