Program: GN-2022A-LP-8

Supermassive black holes (BHs) are fundamental components of galaxies, as demonstrated by the correlations between BH mass and large-scale galaxy bulge properties. Our understanding of the underlying physics driving the empirical scaling relations is limited by the present sample of galaxies for which dynamical BH masses have been measured. In particular, BH mass determinations have been preferentially made in galaxies with small sizes at a given luminosity relative to the local galaxy population. We will address this bias using NIFS+LGS AO to detect and weigh BHs in 31 nearby galaxies suitable for AO observations and stellar-dynamical modeling methods. We specifically target those galaxies with sizes and luminosities that are currently not well represented in the existing sample of BH mass measurements. Our program will therefore provide a more complete census of local BHs in a wide range of galaxies with diverse evolutionary histories. Large, homogenous datasets of carefully selected samples are required to make significant advances in the field before the next generation of large telescopes come online. With a major investment of Gemini time, we can achieve a breakthrough in our understanding the co-evolution of BHs and galaxies.