2008ApJ...689L..21B

We have recently completed a 64 night spectroscopic monitoring campaign at the Lick Observatory 3 m Shane telescope with the aim of measuring the masses of the black holes in 13 nearby (z<0.05) Seyfert 1 galaxies with expected masses in the range ∼10⁶-10⁷ M_☉. We present here the first results from this project–the mass of the central black hole in Arp 151. Strong variability throughout the campaign led to an exceptionally clean Hβ lag measurement in this object of 4.25^+0.68_–0.66 days in the observed frame. Coupled with the width of the Hβ emission line in the variable spectrum, we determine a black hole mass of (7.1±1.2)x10⁶ M_☉, assuming the Onken et al. normalization for reverberation-based virial masses. We also find velocity-resolved lag information within the Hβ emission line which clearly shows infalling gas in the Hβ-emitting region. Further detailed analysis may lead to a full model of the geometry and kinematics of broad line region gas around the central black hole in Arp 151.