The Mass of the Central Black Hole in the Seyfert Galaxy NGC 4151

Metzroth, Kyle; Onken, Christopher A.; Peterson, B. M.

doi:10.1086/505525

Cited by 113 publications

(136 citation statements)

References 33 publications

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“…Even though the International Ultraviolet Explorer (IUE ) data set of Clavel et al (1990) is undersampled and the IUE data set of Ulrich & Horne (1996) is of a fairly short duration, the estimate of M BH determined by Metzroth et al (2006) of (4:14 AE 0:73) ; 10 7 M is in good agreement with the value we obtain above. Figure 3 shows the lag and line-width measurements (given by cen and lin ) for NGC 4151 from Metzroth et al (2006) and from this work. We fit a power law to the UV data from Metzroth et al (2006) and the optical data from this work.…”

Section: Discussionsupporting

confidence: 83%

“…Figure 3 shows the lag and line-width measurements (given by cen and lin ) for NGC 4151 from Metzroth et al (2006) and from this work. We fit a power law to the UV data from Metzroth et al (2006) and the optical data from this work. Even with the small range of values available for and ÁV , we find that the best fit gives a slope of ¼ À0:76 AE 0:24, consistent with the slope of ¼ À0:5 expected if the virial relationship between the size of the BLR and the velocity of the gas exists.…”

Section: Discussionmentioning

confidence: 99%

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A Reverberation‐based Mass for the Central Black Hole in NGC 4151

Bentz

Denney

Cackett

et al. 2006

ApJ

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We have undertaken a new ground-based monitoring campaign to improve the estimates of the mass of the central black hole in NGC 4151. We measure the lag time of the broad H line response compared to the optical continuum at 5100 8 and find a lag of 6:6 þ1:1 À0:8 days. We combine our data with the recent reanalysis of UVemission lines by Metzroth and coworkers to calculate a weighted mean of the black hole mass, M BH ¼ (4:57 þ0:57 À0:47 ) ; 10 7 M . The absolute calibration of the black hole mass is based on normalization of the AGN black hole mass-stellar velocity dispersion (M BH -Ã ) relationship to that of quiescent galaxies by Onken and coworkers. The scatter in the M BH -Ã relationship suggests that reverberation-mapping-based mass measurements are typically uncertain by a factor of 3Y4.

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Section: Discussionsupporting

confidence: 83%

Section: Discussionmentioning

confidence: 99%

A Reverberation‐based Mass for the Central Black Hole in NGC 4151

Bentz

Denney

Cackett

et al. 2006

ApJ

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207

217

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“…However, whereas C iv reverberation studies of a handful of objects are consistent with expectations from Hb (Peterson et al 2005), a clear indication of reverberation has not yet been found for Mg ii. Although the line has been seen to vary in both flux and width (e.g., Clavel et al 1991;Dietrich & Kollatschny 1995;Metzroth et al 2006;Woo 2008), only weak Mg ii reverberation signals have been seen (Reichert et al 1994). Thus, the mass relation for Mg ii relies on the correlation of single-epoch estimates with Hb masses and the argument that Mg ii and Hb have similar ionization potentials (McLure & Dunlop 2004).…”

Section: Methods Of Analysismentioning

confidence: 99%

An Improved Method for Using Mg ii to Estimate Black Hole Masses in Active Galactic Nuclei

Onken

Kollmeier

2008

ApJ

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We present a method for obtaining accurate black hole (BH) mass estimates from the Mg ii emission line in active galactic nuclei (AGNs). Employing the large database of AGN measurements from the Sloan Digital Sky Survey (SDSS) presented by Shen et al., we find that AGNs in the redshift range 0.3-0.9, for which a given object can have both Hb and Mg ii line widths measured, display a modest but correctable discrepancy in Mg ii-based masses that correlates with the Eddington ratio. We use the SDSS database to estimate the probability distribution of the true (i.e., Hb-based) mass given a measured Mg ii line width. These probability distributions are then applied to the SDSS measurements from Shen et al. across the entire Mg ii-accessible redshift range (0.3-2.2). We find that accounting for this residual correlation generally increases the dispersion of Eddington ratios by a small factor (∼0.09 dex for the redshift and luminosity bins we consider). We continue to find that the intrinsic distribution of Eddington ratios for luminous AGNs is extremely narrow, 0.3-0.4 dex, as demonstrated by Kollmeier et al. Using the method we describe, Mg ii emission lines can be used with confidence to obtain BH mass estimates.

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“…Reverberation mapping studies of Mgiiλ2800 are not yet conclusive, and they leave open the possibility that the average emitting distance of Mgiiλ2800 is larger than for Hβ (Metzroth et al 2006;Trevese et al 2007;Woo 2008). In addition to the theoretical considerations of Sect.…”

Section: Mgiiλ2800 Virial Broadening and Virial Productmentioning

confidence: 98%

Is MgIIλ2800 a reliable virial broadening estimator for quasars?

Marziani

Sulentic

Plauchu-Frayn

et al. 2013

A&A

156

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Context. Broad Mgiiλ2800 and Hβ lines have emerged as the most reliable virial estimators of the black hole mass in quasars. Which is more reliable? Part of the challenge centers on comparing Mgiiλ2800 and Hβ line profiles in order to improve the ±1 dex M BH uncertainties inherent in single-epoch FWHM measures from noisy spectra. Aims. We compare Mgiiλ2800 and Hβ profile measures in the same sources and especially FWHM measures that provide the virial broadening estimator. Methods. We identify 680 bright Sloan Digital Sky Survey Data Release 7 quasars with spectra showing both Mgiiλ2800 and Hβ lines at redshift 0.4 ≤ z ≤ 0.75. The S/N of these spectra are high enough to allow binning in the "four-dimensional (4D) eigenvector 1" optical plane and construction of high S/N composite spectra. Results. We confirm that Mgiiλ2800 shows a profile that is ≈20% narrower as suggested in some previous studies. FWHM measures for Population B sources (i.e., with FWHM of Hβ larger than 4000 km s −1 ) are uncertain because they show complex profiles with at least two broad-line components involving a nearly unshifted broad and redshifted very-broad component. Only the broad component is likely to be a valid virial estimator. If Hβ and Mgiiλ2800 are not corrected for the very broad component then black hole mass M BH values for Population B sources will be systematically overestimated by up to Δ logM BH ≈ 0.3−0.4 dex. We suggest a simple correction that can be applied to the majority of sources. Mgiiλ2800 is the safer virial estimator for Population B sources because the centroid shifts with respect to rest frame are lower than for Hβ. In the broad and very broad component profile interpretation, this is a consequence of the lower very broad to broad component intensity ratio for Mgiiλ2800. Eigenvector-based studies show that effective discrimination of black hole mass and Eddington ratio at fixed redshift is not achieved via luminosity binning but rather by binning in a "4D eigenvector 1" context that reflects different broad line region geometry/kinematics probably driven by the Eddington ratio.

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The Mass of the Central Black Hole in the Seyfert Galaxy NGC 4151

Cited by 113 publications

References 33 publications

A Reverberation‐based Mass for the Central Black Hole in NGC 4151

A Reverberation‐based Mass for the Central Black Hole in NGC 4151

An Improved Method for Using Mg ii to Estimate Black Hole Masses in Active Galactic Nuclei

Is MgIIλ2800 a reliable virial broadening estimator for quasars?

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