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Definitive Measurements of a Supermassive Black Hole and Its Surrounding Mass

Published online by Cambridge University Press:  13 May 2016

Linda Dressel
Linda Dressel*
Affiliation:
Space Telescope Science Institute, Baltimore, MD, USA

Abstract

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A discrete thin rotating emission-line disk is ideal for determining the mass of a supermassive black hole in the nucleus of a galaxy. One can use high resolution imaging in combination with a matrix of spatially resolved velocity measurements to confirm the simple geometry and kinematics of the disk. If the disk remains bright and orderly beyond the sphere of influence of the black hole, with motion driven predominantly by gravitational force, one can also measure the density of the surrounding matter in the nucleus. This is being done for the bright Liner galaxy NGC 3998.

Type
The Inner Regions of Galaxies
Information
Symposium - International Astronomical Union , Volume 205: Galaxies and their Constituents at the Highest Angular Resolutions , 2001 , pp. 50 - 53
Copyright
Copyright © Astronomical Society of the Pacific 2001 

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