The black hole masses of Seyfert galaxies and quasars

By R. McLure, J. Dunlop. 2000

227 citations recorded by the source corpus.

The central black hole masses of a sample of 30 luminous quasars are estimated using Hβ full width half-maximum (FWHM) measurements from a combination of new and previously published nuclear spectra. The quasar black hole mass estimates are combined with reverberation-mapping measurements for a sample of Seyfert galaxies in order to study active galatic nucleus (AGN) black hole masses over a wide range in nuclear luminosity. The link between bulge luminosity and black hole mass is investigated using two-dimensional disc/bulge decompositions of the host galaxy images, the vast majority of which are high-resolution Hubble Space Telescope (HST) observations. It is found that black hole mass and bulge luminosity are well correlated and follow a relation consistent with that expected if black hole and bulge mass are directly proportional. Contrary to the recent results of Wandel, no evidence that Seyfert galaxies follow a different relation to quasars is found. However, the black hole mass distributions of the radio-loud and radio-quiet quasar subsamples are found to be significantly different, with the median black hole mass of the radio-loud quasars a factor of three larger than their radio-quiet counterparts. Finally, utilizing the elliptical galaxy fundamental plane to provide stellar velocity dispersion estimates, a comparison is performed between the virial Hβ black hole mass estimates and those of the correlations of Gebhardt et al. and Merritt & Ferrarese. With the disc geometry of the broad-line region adopted in this paper, the virial Hβ black hole masses indicate that the correct normalization of the black hole versus bulge mass relation is , while the standard assumption of purely random broad-line velocities leads to . The normalization of provided by the disc model is in remarkably good agreement with that inferred for our quasar sample using the (completely independent) correlations.

Subfields: Astronomy and Astrophysics

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Citations in the corpus

Systematic effects in measurement of black hole masses by emission-line reverberation of active galactic nuclei: Eddington ratio and inclination (2006, background): “Some authors (Wu & Han 2001; Zhang & Wu 2002; McLure & Dunlop 2001) assume that the true BH masses in AGNs satisfy the MBH–σ∗ relationship and that the differences between the masses deduced from the stellar velocity dispersion Mσ∗ and the reverberation masses Mrev are due only to inclination…”
On the black hole–bulge mass relation in active and inactive galaxies (2001, background): “In a previous paper (McLure & Dunlop 2001, hereafter MD01) we reported Hb black hole mass estimates for a 45-object sample consisting of both Seyfert galaxies and powerful ðMV , 223Þ quasars.”
Supermassive Black Holes in Active Galactic Nuclei. II. Calibration of the Black Hole Mass-Velocity Dispersion Relationship for Active Galactic Nuclei (2004, unknown): “Our masses are only 62% as large as those expected from the σline–VFWHM relation found in a model-dependent fit to the distribution of VFWHM in a sample of quasars and Seyfert galaxies (McLure & Dunlop 2001).”
Quasars, their host galaxies and their central black holes (2001, methodology): “Also given in Table 9 (column 4) are black-hole masses derived for the majority of the quasars in these samples by McLure & Dunlop (2001) on the basis of assuming that the Hβ-producing broad-line clouds are in Keplerian orbits.”
Active Galactic Nucleus Black Hole Masses and Bolometric Luminosities (2002, methodology): “McLure & Dunlop (2001) reproduced the FHWM distribution of Seyfert galaxies and quasars with two disk components and determined that the average relationship between observed FWHM and actual orbital velocity corresponds to f ¼ 3=2.”
On the Relationship between Radio Emission and Black Hole Mass in Galactic Nuclei (2001, background): “A number of statistical studies of luminous AGNs indicate that the processes responsible for the generation of radio sources depend directly on BH mass (McLure et al. 1999 ; Nelson 2000 ; Laor 2000 ; McLure & Dunlop 2001).”
How Mergers May Affect the Mass Scaling Relation between Gravitationally Bound Systems (2007, background): “0.3) quasars host galaxies (McLure & Dunlop 2001), which have similarly high MBH and Mgal to the high redshift objects in Peng et al. (2006a,b), do not exhibit a mass dependent bias even when the scatter is large.”
Accreting supermassive black holes in the COSMOS field and the connection to their host galaxies (2012, background): “…correlation between the mass of the central SMBH and the various properties of their host galaxies, such as luminosity (Kormendy & Richstone 1995; McLure & Dunlop 2001; Marconi & Hunt 2003), stellar mass (Magorrian et al. 1998) and velocity dispersion (Ferrarese & Merritt 2000; Gebhardt et al.…”
Supermassive Black Holes in Galactic Nuclei: Past, Present and Future Research (2004, background): “, several studies have employed the optical relations (e.g. Bian & Zhao 2003; Shields et al. 2003; Netzer 2003; Woo & Urry 2002a&b; Oshlack et al. 2002; Wandel 2002; Boroson 2002; McLure & Dunlop 2001).”
Starburst and AGN activity in ultraluminous infrared galaxies (2003, background): “Nearly all optical QSOs with measured SMBH masses have MBH > 10 8M⊙, in some cases reaching MBH ∼ 10 10M⊙ (McLure & Dunlop 2001; Gu, Cao & Jiang 2001), hence it seems likely that a SMBH in this mass range is necessary for QSO activity.”
Early Growth and Efficient Accretion of Massive Black Holes at High Redshift (2003, result): “The two radio types of the intermediate-redshift quasars, which are matched in luminosity and redshift, display no significant MBH difference, in contrast to some studies claiming blackholes of RLQs are more massive (e.g., Laor 2000; McLure & Dunlop 2001).”
A Fundamental plane of black hole activity (2003, background): “…there have been various claims for the existence of a correlation between radio luminosity or radio loudness (a measure of the ratio of radio to bolometric luminosity) and SMBH masses (Franceschini, Vercellone, & Fabian 1998; McLure & Dunlop 2001; Lacy et al. 2001; Nagar et al. 2002; Laor 2000).”
Piecing together the X-ray background : bolometric corrections for active galactic nuclei (2007, unknown): “…[28] - Morales & Fabian (2002), [29] - Bonning et al. (2005), [30] - Piconcelli et al. (2005), [31] - Ueda et al. (2005), [32] - Surace et al. (2001), [33] - McLure & Dunlop (2001), [34] - Brocksopp et al. (2006), [35] - Page et al. (2004), [36] - Wang et al. (2004) c© 0000 RAS, MNRAS000, 000–000”
Evidence for Merger Remnants in Early-Type Host Galaxies of Low-Redshift QSOs (2008, methodology): “BH mass estimates (using , FWHMH , and L5100, the R-band luminosity of the host spheroid) yieldMBH ’ (0:11 2:6) ; 109 M (McLure & Dunlop 2001; Wu et al. 2002; D03).”
On the evolution of the black‐hole/spheroid mass ratio (2005, background): “It is now established at low redshift that black-hole mass and host spheroidal mass are tightly correlated in both quiescent (Magorrian et al. 1998; Gebhardt et al. 2000; Ferrarese & Merritt 2000) and active galaxies (McLure & Dunlop 2001,2002; Nelson et al. 2004).”
ACTIVE GALACTIC NUCLEUS HOST GALAXY MORPHOLOGIES IN COSMOS (2009, background): “The masses of the central SMBHs in nearby galaxies correlate with several host bulge properties, including luminosity (Kormendy & Richstone 1995; McLure & Dunlop 2001; Marconi & Hunt 2003), velocity dispersion (Ferrarese & ∗ Based on observations with the NASA/ESA Hubble Space Telescope, obtained…”
The cosmological evolution of quasar black hole masses (2003, background): “…samples, investigating the relationships between black-hole mass, the properties of the surrounding host galaxies and the spectral energy distribution of the central engine (e.g. Laor 1998, 2000, 2001; Wandel 1999; McLure & Dunlop 2001,2002; Lacy et al 2001; Dunlop et al 2003; Vestergaard 2004).”
Determining Central Black Hole Masses in Distant Active Galaxies and Quasars. II. Improved Optical and UV Scaling Relationships (2002, background): “…& Richstone 1995; Magorrian et al. 1998; Richstone et al. 1998; Ho 1999; e.g. active galaxies: Laor 1998; Ho 1999; Wandel 1999; see also Laor 2001; McLure & Dunlop 2001; Wandel 2001) and the bulge stellar velocity dispersion (inactive galaxies: Ferrarese & Merritt 2000; Gebhardt et al. 2000a; see…”
The non-linear dependence of flux on black hole mass and accretion rate in core-dominated jets (2003, background): “Nevertheless, some observational evidence of a non-linear dependence between AGN radio flux and black hole mass (Franceschini, Vercellone & Fabian 1998; Laor 2000; Lacy et al. 2001; McLure & Dunlop 2001) exists in the recent literature.”