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Narrowband HST images of M87: Evidence for a disk of ionized gas around a massive black holeWe present Hubble Space Telescope Wide Field/Planetary Camera-2 (HST WFPC2) narrowband H-alpha + (N II) images of M87 which show a small disk of ionized gas with apparent spiral structure surrounding the nucleus of M87. The jet projects approximately 19.5 deg from the minor axis of the disk, which suggests that the jet is approximately normal to the disk. In a companion Letter, Harms et al. measure the radial velocities at r = +/- 0.25 sec along a line perpendicular to the jet, showing that one side of the disk is approaching at 500 +/- 50 km/s and the other side of the disk is receding at 500 +/- 50 km/s. Absorption associated with the disk and the sense of rotation imply that the apparent spiral arms trail the rotation. The observed radial velocites corrected for a 42 deg inclination of the disk imply rotation at +/- 750 km/s. Analysis of velocity measurements at four positions near the nucleus gives a total mass of approximately 2.4 +/- 0.7 x 10(exp 9) solar mass within 18 pc of the nucleus, and a mass-to-light ratio (M/L)(sub I) = 170. We conclude that there is a disk of ionized gas feeding a massive black hole in the center of M87.
Document ID
19950040553
Acquisition Source
Legacy CDMS
Document Type
Reprint (Version printed in journal)
External Source(s)
Authors
Ford, Holland C.
(Johns Hopkins Univ. Baltimore, MD, United States)
Harms, Richard J.
(Applied Research Corporation Landover, MD, United States)
Tsvetanov, Zlatan I.
(Johns Hopkins Univ. Baltimore, MD, United States)
Hartig, George F.
(Space Telescope Science Inst. Baltimore, MD, United States)
Dressel, Linda L.
(Applied Research Corporation Landover, MD, United States)
Kriss, Gerard A.
(Johns Hopkins Univ. Baltimore, MD, United States)
Bohlin, Ralph C.
(Space Telescope Science Inst. Baltimore, MD, United States)
Davidsen, Arthur F.
(Johns Hopkins Univ. Baltimore, MD, United States)
Margon, Bruce
(Univ. of Washington, Seattle, WA United States)
Kochhar, Ajay K.
(Applied Research Corporation Landover, MD, United States)
Date Acquired
August 16, 2013
Publication Date
November 1, 1994
Publication Information
Publication: Astrophysical Journal, Part 2 - Letters
Volume: 435
Issue: 1
ISSN: 0004-637X
Subject Category
Astronomy
Accession Number
95A72152
Funding Number(s)
CONTRACT_GRANT: NAS5-29293
CONTRACT_GRANT: NAS5-26555
CONTRACT_GRANT: NAG5-1630
Distribution Limits
Public
Copyright
Other

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