2021/03/16 by Mark D. Smith, M. Smith, Martin Bureau +10 · 27 citations
Physics and Astronomy · #Astronomy #Astrophysical Phenomena and Observations #Astrophysics #Black hole (networking) #Galaxies: Formation, Evolution, Phenomena #Galaxy #Gravitational potential #Mass ratio #Physics #Radio Astronomy Observations and Technology #Star formation #Submillimeter Array #Supermassive black hole #astro-ph.GA
paper · pdf · doi:10.1093/mnras/stab791
published in Monthly Notices of the Royal Astronomical Society 503(4), 5984-5996 (Oxford University Press) · 14 pages, 8 figures, accepted for publication in MNRAS
arxiv created 2021/03/16 · openalex publication_date 2021/03/16 · arxiv updated 2021/03/24 · openalex created_date 2021/03/29 · openalex updated_date 2026/08/05
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′′.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± 0.3× 109 M_\odot and a stellar I-band mass-to-light ratio of 4.6± 0.2 \mathrmM_\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.