Galaxy formation and evolution

Abstract:

We are using adaptive optics on Keck and the VLT to probe the dynamics and star formation in Seyfert and QSO nuclei, obtaining spatial resolutions better than 0.1" in the H- and K-bands. The dynamics are traced via the 2.12um H_2 1-0S(1) line, while the stellar cluster is traced through the CO 2-0 and 6-3 absorption bandheads at 2.29um and 1.62um respectively. Matching disk models to the H_2 rotation curves allows us to study nuclear rings, bars, and warps; and to constrain the mass of the central black hole. The spatial extent and equivalent width of the stellar absorption permits us to estimate the mass of stars in the nucleus and their contribution to the emission. Here we report on new data for I Zwicky 1, Markarian 231, and NGC 7469.

Abstract:

We present stellar kinematics for a sample of 10 early-type galaxies observed using the Space Telescope Imaging Spectrograph (STIS) aboard the Hubble Space Telescope and the Modular Spectrograph on the MDM Observatory 2.4 m telescope. These observations are a part of an ongoing program to understand the coevolution of supermassive black holes and their host galaxies. Our spectral ranges include either the calcium triplet absorption lines at 8498, 8542, and 8662 Åor the Mg b absorption at 5175 Å. The lines are used to derive line-of-sight velocity distributions (LOSVDs) of the stars using a maximum penalized likelihood method. We use Gauss-Hermite polynomials to parameterize the LOSVDs and find predominantly negative h4 values (boxy distributions) in the central regions of our galaxies. One galaxy, NGC 4697, has significantly positive central h4 (high tail weight). The majority of galaxies have a central velocity dispersion excess in the STIS kinematics over ground-based velocity dispersions. The galaxies with the strongest rotational support, as quantified with vmax/σSTIS have the smallest dispersion excess at STIS resolution. The best-fitting, general, axisymmetric dynamical models (described in a companion paper) require black holes in all cases, with masses ranging from 106.5 to 10 9.3 M⊙. We replot these updated masses on the M BH-σ relation and show that the fit to only these 10 galaxies has a slope consistent with the fits to larger samples. The greatest outlier is NGC 2778, a dwarf elliptical with relatively poorly constrained black hole mass. The two best candidates for pseudobulges, NGC 3384 and NGC 7457, do not deviate significantly from the established relation between MBH and σ. Neither do the three galaxies that show the most evidence of a recent merger, NGC 3608, NGC 4473, and NGC 4697.