The Black Hole Mass of BL Lacertae Objects from the Stellar Velocity Dispersion of the Host Galaxy

2002/03/13 by R. Falomo, J. K. Kotilainen, Jari Kotilainen +1 · 3 citations
Physics and Astronomy · #Astrophysics and Cosmic Phenomena #Galaxies: Formation, Evolution, Phenomena #Radio Astronomy Observations and Technology #astro-ph

paper · pdf · doi:10.1086/340642

11 pages, Astrophysical Journal (Letters), accepted

arxiv created 2002/03/13 · openalex publication_date 2002/04/10 · arxiv updated 2009/12/01 · openalex created_date 2016/06/24 · openalex updated_date 2026/07/28

Abstract

The correlation between black hole mass M(BH) and stellar velocity dispersion sigma in nearby elliptical galaxies affords a novel way to determine M(BH) in active galaxies. We report on measurements of sigma from optical spectra of 7 BL Lac host galaxies. The derived values of sigma are in the range of 160 - 290 km/s corresponding to M(BH) of 5 x 10⁷ to 1 x 10⁹ Msun. The average ratio of M(BH) to the host galaxy mass is 1.4 x 10^-3, consistent with that estimated in other active and inactive galaxies. The velocity dispersions and the derived values of M(BH) of the BL Lacs are similar to those obtained for low redshift radio galaxies, in good agreement with the predictions of the unified models for radio-loud active galaxies.

Citations

• The Demography of Massive Dark Objects in Galaxy Centers
• A Relationship between Nuclear Black Hole Mass and Galaxy Velocity Dispersion

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