Year: 2001
Type: article
Abstract: We investigate the differences in the M • -σ relation derived recently by Ferrarese & Merritt and by Gebhardt and collaborators. The shallower slope found by the latter authors (3.75 vs. 4.8) is due partly to the use of a regression algorithm that ignores measurement errors and partly to the value of the velocity dispersion adopted for a single galaxy, the Milky Way. A steeper relation is shown to provide a better fit to black hole masses derived from reverberation mapping studies. Combining the stellar dynamical, gasdynamical, and reverberation mapping mass estimates, we derive a best-fit relation M • = 1.30(±0.36) × 10 8 M ☉ (σ c /200 km s -1 ) 4.72(±0.36) .
Source: The Astrophysical Journal
DOI: 10.1086/318372
Authors: David Merritt, Laura Ferrarese
Institution: Rutgers, The State University of New Jersey
Language: English
Subfield: Astronomy and Astrophysics
Field: Physics and Astronomy
Domain: Physical Sciences
Open Access status: bronze
OpenAlex ID: W2083539495