• DOI:10.1088/0004-637X/700/2/1690
• Corpus ID: 15481963

THE BLACK HOLE MASS, STELLAR MASS-TO-LIGHT RATIO, AND DARK HALO IN M87

@article{Gebhardt2009THEBH,
  title={THE BLACK HOLE MASS, STELLAR MASS-TO-LIGHT RATIO, AND DARK HALO IN M87},
  author={Karl Gebhardt and Jens Thomas},
  journal={The Astrophysical Journal},
  year={2009},
  volume={700},
  pages={1690-1701}
}

• K. Gebhardt, Jens Thomas
• Published 8 June 2009
• Physics, Geology
• The Astrophysical Journal

We model the dynamical structure of M87 (NGC4486) using high spatial resolution long-slit observations of stellar light in the central regions, two-dimensional stellar light kinematics out to half of the effective radius, and globular cluster velocities out to eight effective radii. We simultaneously fit for four parameters: black hole mass, dark halo core radius, dark halo circular velocity, and stellar mass-to-light (M/L) ratio. We find a black hole mass of 6.4({+-}0.5) x 10{sup 9} M {sub sun} (the uncertainty is 68% confidence marginalized over the other parameters). The stellar M/L{sub V} = 6.3 {+-} 0.8. The best-fit dark halo core radius is 14 {+-} 2 kpc, assuming a cored logarithmic potential. The best-fit dark halo circular velocity is 715 {+-} 15 km s{sup -1}. Our black hole mass is over a factor of 2 larger than previous stellar dynamical measures, and our derived stellar M/L ratio is two times lower than previous dynamical measures. When we do not include a dark halo, we measure a black hole mass and stellar M/L ratio that is consistent with previous measures, implying that the major difference is in the model assumptions. The stellar M/L ratio from our models is very similar to thatmore » derived from stellar population models of M87. The reason for the difference in the black hole mass is because we allow the M/L ratio to change with radius. The dark halo is degenerate with the stellar M/L ratio, which is subsequently degenerate with the black hole mass. We argue that dynamical models of galaxies that do not include the contribution from a dark halo may produce a biased result for the black hole mass. This bias is especially large for a galaxy with a shallow light profile such as M87, and may not be as severe in galaxies with steeper light profiles unless they have a large stellar population change with radius.« less