No Supermassive Black Hole in M33?

We observed the nucleus of M33, the third-brightest galaxy in the Local Group, with the Space Telescope Imaging Spectrograph at a resolution at least a factor of 10 higher than previously obtained. Rather than the steep rise expected within the radius of gravitational influence of a supermassive bla...

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Bibliographic Details
Published in:Science (American Association for the Advancement of Science) 2001-08, Vol.293 (5532), p.1116-1118
Main Authors: Merritt, David, Ferrarese, Laura, Joseph, Charles L.
Format: Article
Language:English
Subjects:
Algorithms
Astronomy
Astrophysics
Black holes
Black holes (Astronomy)
Earth, ocean, space
Exact sciences and technology
Galaxies
Local group. Magellanic clouds
Mass
Masses
Milky Way Galaxy
Observations
Scientific Concepts
Space based observatories
Spiral galaxies
Spiral galaxies (m31 and 001m33)
Stars
Stars & galaxies
Stellar radii
Stellar systems. Galactic and extragalactic objects and systems. The universe
Supermassive black holes
Triangulum Galaxy
Velocity
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Summary:We observed the nucleus of M33, the third-brightest galaxy in the Local Group, with the Space Telescope Imaging Spectrograph at a resolution at least a factor of 10 higher than previously obtained. Rather than the steep rise expected within the radius of gravitational influence of a supermassive black hole, the random stellar velocities showed a decrease within a parsec of the center of the galaxy. The implied upper limit on the mass of the central black hole is only 3000 solar masses, about three orders of magnitude lower than the dynamically inferred mass of any other supermassive black hole. Detecting black holes of only a few thousand solar masses is observationally challenging, but it is critical to establish how supermassive black holes relate to their host galaxies, and which mechanisms influence the formation and evolution of both.
ISSN:0036-8075
1095-9203
DOI:10.1126/science.1063896