Determination of the Central Mass in Active Galactic Nuclei Using Cross‐Correlation Lags and Velocity Dispersions

Fromerth, Michael J.; Melia, Fulvio

doi:10.1086/308671

Cited by 37 publications

(37 citation statements)

References 22 publications

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“…In addition, the measurement of the FWHM is very sensitive to details of the profile. Fromerth & Melia (2000) propose to calculate the squared velocity dispersion directly from the second moment of the line profile:…”

Section: Line Velocity Dispersionmentioning

confidence: 99%

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The mass of the black hole in 3C 273

Paltani¹,

Türler

2005

A&A

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Abstract. In this paper we apply the reverberation method to determine the mass of the black hole in 3C 273 from the Lyα and C emission lines using archival IUE observations. Following the standard assumptions of the method, we find a maximumlikelihood estimate of the mass of 6.59 × 10 9 M , with a 1σ confidence interval 5.69−8.27 × 10 9 M . This estimate is more than one order of magnitude larger than that obtained in a previous study using Balmer lines. We reanalyze the optical data and show that the method applied to the Hα, Hβ, and Hγ Balmer lines produce mass estimates lower by a factor 2.5, but already much larger than the previous estimate derived from the same lines. The finding of such a high mass in a face-on object is a strong indication that the gas motion is not confined to the accretion disk. The new mass estimate makes 3C 273 accreting with an accretion rate about six times lower than the Eddington rate. We discuss the implications of our result for the broad-line-region size and black-hole mass vs. luminosity relationships for the set of objects for which reverberation black-hole masses have been obtained. We find that, while objects with super-Eddington luminosities might theoretically be possible, their existence is not necessarily implied by this sample.

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Section: Line Velocity Dispersionmentioning

confidence: 99%

“…The rms profiles are rather complex, presenting a narrow core, broad wings and secondary peaks, and are not easily represented by a simple analytic form. This is the kind of situation to which the method of Fromerth & Melia (2000) is particularly adapted; in the following, we adopt Eq. (1) to calculate the velocity dispersion.…”

Section: Line Velocity Dispersionmentioning

confidence: 99%

The mass of the black hole in 3C 273

Paltani¹,

Türler

2005

A&A

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“…Applying this method to our version of the optical data yields an SMBH mass of 6:2 þ4:7 À6:1 Â 10 6 M , within the 1 error bars for our mass measurement with the full data set. Fromerth & Melia (2000) employed a different means of measuring the velocity dispersion from the data of Reichert et al (1994) and derived masses of 1:6 þ0:8 À0:4 Â 10 7 and 1:3 þ0:8 À0:5 Â 10 7 M from Ly and C iv 1549, respectively. Various disk-accretion models predicting an SMBH mass in the range of ð2:0 7:0Þ Â 10 7 M were cited by Alloin et al (1995).…”

Section: Implications For the Blr And The Smbhmentioning

confidence: 99%

“…The reliability of these reverberation masses has been debated because of the uncertainty surrounding the common assumption of virialized BLR gas motions. The detailed kinematics and structure of the BLR is an unresolved issue and could lead to systematic errors on the order of a factor of a few or perhaps more (see Fromerth & Melia 2001;Krolik 2001). However, the excellent agreement between the black hole mass-bulge velocity dispersion (M-) relationships for reverberationmapped AGNs and normal galaxies (Ferrarese et al 2001) suggests that the systematic discrepancy introduced in reverberation mapping is small.…”

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

The Mass of the Central Black Hole in the Seyfert Galaxy NGC 3783

Onken

Peterson

2002

ApJ

142

144

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Improved analysis of ultraviolet and optical monitoring data on the Seyfert 1 galaxy NGC 3783 provides evidence for the existence of a supermassive, ð8:7 AE 1:1Þ Â 10 6 M , black hole in this galaxy. By using recalibrated spectra from the International Ultraviolet Explorer satellite and ground-based optical data, as well as refined techniques of reverberation mapping analysis, we have reduced the statistical uncertainties in the response of the emission lines to variations in the ionizing continuum. The different time lags in the emissionline responses indicate a stratification in the ionization structure of the broad-line region and are consistent with the virial relationship suggested by the analysis of similar active galaxies.

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“…H0 is taken to be 70 km s −1 Mpc −1 and q0 = 1/2. Mass estimates are from various sources and compilations (Ferrarese & Merritt 2000;Franceschini et al 1998;Fromerth & Melia 2000;Gebhardt & Bender 2000;Kaspi et al 2000;Magorrian et al 1998;Marconi et al 2000;Merritt & Ferrarese 2001;Nelson 2000;Nishiura & Taniguchi 1998;Peterson & Wandel 2000;Wandel 1999); where multiple estimates exist the geometrical mean is plotted.…”

Section: Studies Of Gamma-ray Emission From Around Hot Starsmentioning

confidence: 99%

Diffractive/refractive optics for high energy astronomy

Skinner

2001

A&A

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Abstract.Diffractive optics components such as Fresnel Zone Plates and their derivatives potentially form the basis for telescope systems for X-ray and gamma-ray astronomy with high sensitivity and superb angular resolution. The main problem is that systems with convenient design parameters involve very long focal lengths. The design considerations and performance of telescopes using a simple Phase Fresnel Lens on one spacecraft and a detector assembly on another are considered. Such systems are shown to have the potential to provide orders of magnitude improvement on currently available sensitivity. At the same time the angular resolution can be at the micro arcsecond level or better -sufficient to resolve the structure surrounding the event horizon of black holes in nearby galaxies.

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Determination of the Central Mass in Active Galactic Nuclei Using Cross‐Correlation Lags and Velocity Dispersions

Cited by 37 publications

References 22 publications

The mass of the black hole in 3C 273

The mass of the black hole in 3C 273

The Mass of the Central Black Hole in the Seyfert Galaxy NGC 3783

Diffractive/refractive optics for high energy astronomy

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