Weighing Super-Massive Black Holes with X-Ray Gas

none5We present a new approach to measure the mass of a super-massive black hole (SMBH) located at the center of a giant elliptical galaxy. This method applies the well-known technique of using the hot, X-ray emitting plasma as a tracer of the large-scale gravitational potential of a giant galaxy (or galaxy cluster) and extends it far down into the central region of a galaxy using high-resolution X-ray data from the Chandra X-ray Observatory. We report the first detection of a SMBH using this method in the Virgo elliptical galaxy, NGC 4649, and present results of preliminary detections in 3 other systems. In addition to providing interesting constraints on the black-hole masses, we show that the stellar mass-to-light ratios of the galaxies computed from this approach agree very well with the prediction from stellar population synthesis models, thus providing strong support for the underlying assumptions of the method (e.g., hydrostatic equilibrium).noneBuote, D. A.; Humphrey, P. J.; Brighenti, F.; Gebhardt, K.; Mathews, W. G.Buote, D. A.; Humphrey, P. J.; Brighenti, F.; Gebhardt, K.; Mathews, W. G