Journal
ASTROPHYSICAL JOURNAL LETTERS
Volume 719, Issue 1, Pages L60-L64Publisher
IOP PUBLISHING LTD
DOI: 10.1088/2041-8205/719/1/L60
Keywords
black hole physics; globular clusters: individual (omega Centauri); stars: kinematics and dynamics
Categories
Funding
- DFG cluster of excellence Origin and Structure of the Universe
- [NSF-0908639.]
- Division Of Astronomical Sciences
- Direct For Mathematical & Physical Scien [0908639] Funding Source: National Science Foundation
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The Galactic globular cluster. Centauri is a prime candidate for hosting an intermediate- mass black hole. Recent measurements lead to contradictory conclusions on this issue. We use VLT- FLAMES to obtain new integrated spectra for the central region of. Centauri. We combine these data with existing measurements of the radial velocity dispersion profile taking into account a new derived center from kinematics and two different centers from the literature. The data support previous measurements performed for a smaller field of view and show a discrepancy with the results from a large proper motion data set. We see a rise in the radial velocity dispersion in the central region to 22.8 +/- 1.2 km s(-1), which provides a strong sign for a central black hole. Isotropic dynamical models for. Centauri imply black hole masses ranging from 3.0 x 10(4) to 5.2 x 10(4) M-circle dot depending on the center. The best-fitted mass is (4.7 +/- 1.0) x 10(4) M-circle dot.
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