Centaurus A: The Supermassive Black Hole in the Nearest AGN

2006 ◽  
pp. 101-106
Author(s):  
Ethan J. Schreier ◽  
Alessandro Marconi
Keyword(s):  
Black Hole ◽  
Supermassive Black Hole ◽  
Centaurus A

scholarly journals The Supermassive Black Hole at the Heart of Centaurus A: Revealed by the Kinematics of Gas and Stars

2010 ◽  
Vol 27 (4) ◽  
pp. 449-456 ◽  
Author(s):  
Nadine Neumayer
Keyword(s):  
Black Hole ◽  
Adaptive Optics ◽  
Accurate Determination ◽  
Black Hole Mass ◽  
Stellar Kinematics ◽  
Supermassive Black Hole ◽  
Integral Field Spectroscopy ◽  
Very Large Telescope ◽  
Using Data ◽  
Centaurus A

AbstractAt less than 4 Mpc distance the radio galaxy NGC 5128 (Centaurus A) is the prime example to study the supermassive black hole and its influence on the environment in great detail. To model and understand the feeding and feedback mechanisms one needs an accurate determination of the mass of the supermassive black hole. The aim of this review is to give an overview of the recent studies that have been dedicated to measure the black hole mass in Centaurus A from both gas and stellar kinematics. It shows how the advancement in observing techniques and instrumentation drive the field of black hole mass measurements and concludes that adaptive optics assisted integral field spectroscopy is the key to identify the effects of the AGN on the surrounding ionised gas. Using data from SINFONI at the ESO Very Large Telescope, the best-fit black hole mass is MBH = 4.5(+1.7, −1.0) × 107 M⊙ (from H2 kinematics) and MBH = (5.5 ± 3.0) × 107 M⊙ (from stellar kinematics). This is one of the cleanest gas-versus-star comparisons of a MBH determination, and brings Centaurus A into agreement with the MBH−σ relation.

scholarly journals Deconvolving the Nucleus of Centaurus A Using Chandra PSF Library

2001 ◽  
Vol 205 ◽  
pp. 66-69
Author(s):  
Margarita Karovska ◽  
T. Aldcroft ◽  
M.S. Elvis ◽  
I.N. Evans ◽  
G. Fabbiano ◽  
...  
Keyword(s):  
Black Hole ◽  
Angular Resolution ◽  
High Angular Resolution ◽  
Central Source ◽  
X Ray ◽  
Preliminary Results ◽  
Multi Scale ◽  
Supermassive Black Hole ◽  
Scale Structures ◽  
Centaurus A

We describe preliminary results from our study of multi-scale structures in Centaurus A (NGC 5128) obtained using the Chandra X-ray Observatory HRC-I observations. The high-angular resolution Chandra images reveal X-ray multi-scale structures in this object with unprecedented detail and clarity. The region surrounding the Cen A nucleus, believed to be associated with a supermassive black hole, shows structures on arcsecond scales clearly resolved from the central source.

Peering through the Dust: Evidence for a Supermassive Black Hole at the Nucleus of Centaurus A from VLT Infrared Spectroscopy

2001 ◽  
Vol 549 (2) ◽  
pp. 915-937 ◽  
Author(s):  
Alessandro Marconi ◽  
Alessandro Capetti ◽  
David J. Axon ◽  
Anton Koekemoer ◽  
Duccio Macchetto ◽  
...  
Keyword(s):  
Black Hole ◽  
Infrared Spectroscopy ◽  
Supermassive Black Hole ◽  
Centaurus A

Gemini Near Infrared Spectrograph Observations of the Central Supermassive Black Hole in Centaurus A

2005 ◽  
Vol 130 (2) ◽  
pp. 406-417 ◽  
Author(s):  
Julia D. Silge ◽  
Karl Gebhardt ◽  
Marcel Bergmann ◽  
Douglas Richstone
Keyword(s):  
Black Hole ◽  
Near Infrared ◽  
Supermassive Black Hole ◽  
Centaurus A

scholarly journals The supermassive black hole in Centaurus A: a benchmark for gas kinematical measurements

2006 ◽  
Vol 448 (3) ◽  
pp. 921-953 ◽  
Author(s):  
A. Marconi ◽  
G. Pastorini ◽  
F. Pacini ◽  
D. J. Axon ◽  
A. Capetti ◽  
...  
Keyword(s):  
Black Hole ◽  
Supermassive Black Hole ◽  
Centaurus A

scholarly journals Observing AGN sources with the Event Horizon Telescope

2019 ◽  
Vol 15 (S356) ◽  
pp. 257-257
Author(s):  
Maciek Wielgus
Keyword(s):  
Black Hole ◽  
Event Horizon ◽  
Angular Resolution ◽  
Galactic Center ◽  
Data Set ◽  
Supermassive Black Hole ◽  
History Of ◽  
Schwarzschild Radius ◽  
Centaurus A

AbstractIn April 2017 Event Horizon Telescope (EHT) has delivered first resolved images of a shadow of a supermassive black hole. Apart from black hole sources in M87 and in the Galactic Center, observed with resolution comparable to the Schwarzschild radius scale, EHT observed multiple AGN sources during the 2017 campaign. These include 3C279, Centaurus A, OJ287 and more. For most of the considered sources EHT 2017 data set should allow to reconstruct images with highest angular resolution in the history of their observations, approaching 20 uas. While the analysis of these data is still ongoing, I will talk about the scientific opportunities related to observing AGN sources with the extreme resolution of the EHT as well as about the astrophysical questions that these observations may help answering.

Central kiloparsec of NGC 1326 observed with SINFONI

2020 ◽  
Vol 638 ◽  
pp. A53
Author(s):  
Nastaran Fazeli ◽  
Gerold Busch ◽  
Andreas Eckart ◽  
Françoise Combes ◽  
Persis Misquitta ◽  
...  
Keyword(s):  
Black Hole ◽  
Galaxy Evolution ◽  
Near Infrared ◽  
Velocity Fields ◽  
Molecular Gas ◽  
Nearby Galaxy ◽  
Stellar Content ◽  
Stellar Rotation ◽  
Supermassive Black Hole ◽  
Integral Field Spectrograph

Gas inflow processes in the vicinity of galactic nuclei play a crucial role in galaxy evolution and supermassive black hole growth. Exploring the central kiloparsec of galaxies is essential to shed more light on this subject. We present near-infrared H- and K-band results of the nuclear region of the nearby galaxy NGC 1326, observed with the integral-field spectrograph SINFONI mounted on the Very Large Telescope. The field of view covers 9″ × 9″ (650 × 650 pc2). Our work is concentrated on excitation conditions, morphology, and stellar content. The nucleus of NGC 1326 was classified as a LINER, however in our data we observed an absence of ionised gas emission in the central r ∼ 3″. We studied the morphology by analysing the distribution of ionised and molecular gas, and thereby detected an elliptically shaped, circum-nuclear star-forming ring at a mean radius of 300 pc. We estimate the starburst regions in the ring to be young with dominating ages of < 10 Myr. The molecular gas distribution also reveals an elongated east to west central structure about 3″ in radius, where gas is excited by slow or mild shock mechanisms. We calculate the ionised gas mass of 8 × 105 M⊙ completely concentrated in the nuclear ring and the warm molecular gas mass of 187 M⊙, from which half is concentrated in the ring and the other half in the elongated central structure. The stellar velocity fields show pure rotation in the plane of the galaxy. The gas velocity fields show similar rotation in the ring, but in the central elongated H2 structure they show much higher amplitudes and indications of further deviation from the stellar rotation in the central 1″ aperture. We suggest that the central 6″ elongated H2 structure might be a fast-rotating central disc. The CO(3–2) emission observations with the Atacama Large Millimeter/submillimeter Array reveal a central 1″ torus. In the central 1″ of the H2 velocity field and residual maps, we find indications for a further decoupled structure closer to a nuclear disc, which could be identified with the torus surrounding the supermassive black hole.

scholarly journals WISDOM project – VII. Molecular gas measurement of the supermassive black hole mass in the elliptical galaxy NGC 7052

2021 ◽  
Vol 503 (4) ◽  
pp. 5984-5996
Author(s):  
Mark D Smith ◽  
Martin Bureau ◽  
Timothy A Davis ◽  
Michele Cappellari ◽  
Lijie Liu ◽  
...  
Keyword(s):  
Black Hole ◽  
Hubble Space Telescope ◽  
Elliptical Galaxy ◽  
Continuum Emission ◽  
Molecular Gas ◽  
Supermassive Black Hole ◽  
Gas Kinematics ◽  
Long Baseline ◽  
Gas Measurement ◽  
Strong Gradient

ABSTRACT Supermassive black hole (SMBH) masses can be measured by resolving the dynamical influences of the SMBHs on tracers of the central potentials. Modern long-baseline interferometers have enabled the use of molecular gas as such a tracer. We present here Atacama Large Millimeter/submillimeter Array observations of the elliptical galaxy NGC 7052 at 0${^{\prime\prime}_{.}}$11 ($37\,$pc) resolution in the 12CO(2-1) line and $1.3\,$ mm continuum emission. This resolution is sufficient to resolve the region in which the potential is dominated by the SMBH. We forward model these observations, using a multi-Gaussian expansion of a Hubble Space Telescope F814W image and a spatially constant mass-to-light ratio to model the stellar mass distribution. We infer an SMBH mass of $2.5\pm 0.3\times 10^{9}\, \mathrm{M_\odot }$ and a stellar I-band mass-to-light ratio of $4.6\pm 0.2\, \mathrm{M_\odot /L_{\odot ,I}}$ (3σ confidence intervals). This SMBH mass is significantly larger than that derived using ionized gas kinematics, which however appears significantly more kinematically disturbed than the molecular gas. We also show that a central molecular gas deficit is likely to be the result of tidal disruption of molecular gas clouds due to the strong gradient in the central gravitational potential.

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