Program: GN-2006A-SV-123

Title:Constraining the nuclear black hole mass in the Seyfert galaxy NGC4051
PI:Thaisa Storchi-Bergmann
Co-I(s): Henrique Schmitt, Claudia Winge, Rogemar Riffel, Peter McGregor, Tracy Beck

Abstract

High spatial resolution near-infrared imaging spectroscopy can be used to address two fundamental issues related to the way massive black holes in active galactic nuclei interact with their circumnuclear environments: 1) the measurement of stellar velocity dispersions near, or within, the sphere of influence of the black hole can be used to estimate, or place limits on, the black hole mass, 2) measurement of the excitation and dynamics of inner Narrow-Line Region gas directly reveals how radiation and mass outflows from the nucleus interact with circumnuclear gas. NIFS K band spectra of NGC 4051 will be used to map the stellar velocity field and measure velocity dispersions via the CO stellar absorption bands, while the emission lines of H I and H2 will be used to obtain the gas velocity field and excitation.

Publications using this program's data