2024ApJ...974...60T -
Astrophys. J., 974, 60 (2024/October-2)
The Lower Limit of Dynamical Black Hole Masses Detectable in Virgo Compact Stellar Systems Using the JWST/NIRSpec IFU.
TAHMASEBZADEH B., LAPEER A., VASILIEV E., VALLURI M., TAYLOR M.A. and THOMPSON S.
Abstract (from CDS):
Due to observational challenges, the mass function of black holes (BH) at lower masses is poorly constrained in the local universe. Understanding the occupation fraction of BHs in low-mass galaxies is crucial for constraining the origins of supermassive BH seeds. Compact stellar systems (CSSs), including ultracompact dwarf galaxies (UCDs) and compact elliptical galaxies (cEs), are potential intermediate-mass BH hosts. Despite the difficulties posed by their limited spheres of influence, stellar dynamical modeling has been effective in estimating central BH masses in CSSs. Some CSSs may harbor a BH constituting up to 20% of their host stellar mass, while others might not have a central BH. In support of our ongoing efforts to determine the BH masses in select CSSs in the Virgo cluster using JWST/NIRSpec IFU observations and orbit-superposition dynamical models, we create mock kinematic data mimicking the characteristics of observed cEs/UCDs in the Virgo cluster with different BH masses. We then construct a series of dynamical models using the orbit-superposition code FORSTAND and explore the accuracy of recovering the BH mass. We find that the mass of BHs comprising 1% or more of the total host stellar mass can be accurately determined through kinematic maps featuring higher-order velocity moments. We also assess how BH mass measurement is affected by deprojection methods, regularization factors, anisotropy parameters, orbit initial conditions, the absence of higher-order velocity moments, the spatial resolution, and the signal-to-noise ratio.
Abstract Copyright:
© 2024. The Author(s). Published by the American Astronomical Society.
Journal keyword(s):
Black holes - Intermediate-mass black holes - Ultracompact dwarf galaxies - Galactic and extragalactic astronomy - Galaxy dynamics
Simbad objects:
6
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