A Fundamental Relation between Supermassive Black Holes and Their Host Galaxies
Laura Ferrarese, David R. Merritt
The Astrophysical Journal · 2000 · 4,436 citationsOpen access
Abstract
The masses of supermassive black holes correlate almost perfectly with the velocity dispersions of their host bulges, M bh ∝ σ α , where α = 4.8 ± 0.5. The relation is much tighter than the relation between M bh and bulge luminosity, with a scatter no larger than expected on the basis of measurement error alone. Black hole masses recently estimated by Magorrian et al. lie systematically above the M bh -σ relation defined by more accurate mass estimates, some by as much as 2 orders of magnitude. The tightness of the M bh -σ relation implies a strong link between black hole formation and the properties of the stellar bulge.
Cite this paper
Ferrarese, L., & Merritt, D. R. (2000). A fundamental relation between supermassive black holes and their host galaxies. The Astrophysical Journal, 539(1), L9-L12. https://doi.org/10.1086/312838
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