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The M•‐σ Relation for Supermassive Black Holes

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Merritt, David, Ferrarese, Laura·2001·The Astrophysical Journal

Abstract

We investigate the differences in the M • -σ relation derived recently by Ferrarese & Merritt and by Gebhardt and collaborators. The shallower slope found by the latter authors (3.75 vs. 4.8) is due partly to the use of a regression algorithm that ignores measurement errors and partly to the value of the velocity dispersion adopted for a single galaxy, the Milky Way. A steeper relation is shown to provide a better fit to black hole masses derived from reverberation mapping studies. Combining the stellar dynamical, gasdynamical, and reverberation mapping mass estimates, we derive a best-fit relation M • = 1.30(±0.36) × 10 8 M ☉ (σ c /200 km s -1 ) 4.72(±0.36) .

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Metadata

Authors
Merritt, D., & Ferrarese, L.
Venue
The Astrophysical Journal
Published
2001-01-20
Volume
547
Issue
1
Pages
140-145
ISSN
  • 0004-637X (ISSN-L)
  • 1538-4357
OpenAlex
W2083539495
Cited by
491
References
0
FWCI
30.34
Type
journal article
Language
en
Open access
bronze

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CoChat. (2026). Citation check: The M•‐σ Relation for Supermassive Black Holes. https://app.cochat.ai/papers/10.1086/318372
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Merritt, D., & Ferrarese, L. (2001). The M•‐σ Relation for Supermassive Black Holes. The Astrophysical Journal. https://doi.org/10.1086/318372

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