Detail for Program: GN-2015B-Q-59

Abstract

The census of supermassive black holes (SMBHs) throughout the universe is anchored by dynamical measurements of their masses in nearby galaxies. We propose to measure central stellar kinematics and SMBH masses in five of the most massive ellipticals within 75 Mpc, using the GMOS integral-field unit on Gemini North. Our targets are selected from the MASSIVE survey, a volume-limited sample of extremely massive galaxies (Mstar > 2e11 Msun) within 107 Mpc. Observations in 2015B will add to 15 MASSIVE galaxies we have already observed with GMOS or NIFS. Our full Gemini campaign will double the number of known SMBHs in massive galaxies and alleviate selection biases in the current census of SMBHs, allowing for more extensive and rigorous tests of galaxy and SMBH co-evolution.

Publications using this program's data

[data] [ADS] Triaxial Orbit-based Dynamical Modeling of Galaxies with Supermassive Black Holes and an Application to Massive Elliptical Galaxy NGC 1453

[data] [ADS] The MASSIVE Survey. XV. A Stellar Dynamical Mass Measurement of the Supermassive Black Hole in Massive Elliptical Galaxy NGC 1453

[data] [ADS] The MASSIVE Survey XIV—Stellar Velocity Profiles and Kinematic Misalignments from 200 pc to 20 kpc in Massive Early-type Galaxies

[data] [ADS] The MASSIVE Survey XIII -- Spatially Resolved Stellar Kinematics in the Central 1 kpc of 20 Massive Elliptical Galaxies with the GMOS-North Integral-Field Spectrograph

Title:	The Black Hole Population of the Most Massive Nearby Galaxies
PI:	Nicholas McConnell
Co-I(s):	Jens Thomas, John Blakeslee, Chung-Pei Ma, Ryan Janish, Jenny Greene