1. A dynamical measure of the black hole mass in a quasar 11 billion years ago
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Abuter, R., Allouche, F., Amorim, A., Bailet, C., Berdeu, A., Berger, J. -P., Berio, P., Bigioli, A., Boebion, O., Bolzer, M. -L., Bonnet, H., Bourdarot, G., Bourget, P., Brandner, W., Cao, Y., Conzelmann, R., Comin, M., Clénet, Y., Courtney-Barrer, B., Davies, R., Defrère, D., Delboulbé, A., Delplancke-Ströbele, F., Dembet, R., Dexter, J., de Zeeuw, P. T., Drescher, A., Eckart, A., Édouard, C., Eisenhauer, F., Fabricius, M., Feuchtgruber, H., Finger, G., Schreiber, N. M. Förster, Garcia, P., Lopez, R. Garcia, Gao, F., Gendron, E., Genzel, R., Gil, J. P., Gillessen, S., Gomes, T., Gonté, F., Gouvret, C., Guajardo, P., Guieu, S., Hackenberg, W., Haddad, N., Hartl, M., Haubois, X., Haußmann, F., Heißel, G., Henning, Th., Hippler, S., Hönig, S. F., Horrobin, M., Hubin, N., Jacqmart, E., Jocou, L., Kaufer, A., Kervella, P., Kolb, J., Korhonen, H., Lacour, S., Lagarde, S., Lai, O., Lapeyrère, V., Laugier, R., Bouquin, J. -B. Le, Leftley, J., Léna, P., Lewis, S., Liu, D., Lopez, B., Lutz, D., Magnard, Y., Mang, F., Marcotto, A., Maurel, D., Mérand, A., Millour, F., More, N., Netzer, H., Nowacki, H., Nowak, M., Oberti, S., Ott, T., Pallanca, L., Paumard, T., Perraut, K., Perrin, G., Petrov, R., Pfuhl, O., Pourré, N., Rabien, S., Rau, C., Riquelme, M., Robbe-Dubois, S., Rochat, S., Salman, M., Sanchez-Bermudez, J., Santos, D. J. D., Scheithauer, S., Schöller, M., Schubert, J., Schuhler, N., Shangguan, J., Shchekaturov, P., Shimizu, T. T., Sevin, A., Soulez, F., Spang, A., Stadler, E., Sternberg, A., Straubmeier, C., Sturm, E., Sykes, C., Tacconi, L. J., Tristram, K. R. W., Vincent, F., von Fellenberg, S., Uysal, S., Widmann, F., Wieprecht, E., Wiezorrek, E., Woillez, J., Zins, G., Abuter, R., Allouche, F., Amorim, A., Bailet, C., Berdeu, A., Berger, J. -P., Berio, P., Bigioli, A., Boebion, O., Bolzer, M. -L., Bonnet, H., Bourdarot, G., Bourget, P., Brandner, W., Cao, Y., Conzelmann, R., Comin, M., Clénet, Y., Courtney-Barrer, B., Davies, R., Defrère, D., Delboulbé, A., Delplancke-Ströbele, F., Dembet, R., Dexter, J., de Zeeuw, P. T., Drescher, A., Eckart, A., Édouard, C., Eisenhauer, F., Fabricius, M., Feuchtgruber, H., Finger, G., Schreiber, N. M. Förster, Garcia, P., Lopez, R. Garcia, Gao, F., Gendron, E., Genzel, R., Gil, J. P., Gillessen, S., Gomes, T., Gonté, F., Gouvret, C., Guajardo, P., Guieu, S., Hackenberg, W., Haddad, N., Hartl, M., Haubois, X., Haußmann, F., Heißel, G., Henning, Th., Hippler, S., Hönig, S. F., Horrobin, M., Hubin, N., Jacqmart, E., Jocou, L., Kaufer, A., Kervella, P., Kolb, J., Korhonen, H., Lacour, S., Lagarde, S., Lai, O., Lapeyrère, V., Laugier, R., Bouquin, J. -B. Le, Leftley, J., Léna, P., Lewis, S., Liu, D., Lopez, B., Lutz, D., Magnard, Y., Mang, F., Marcotto, A., Maurel, D., Mérand, A., Millour, F., More, N., Netzer, H., Nowacki, H., Nowak, M., Oberti, S., Ott, T., Pallanca, L., Paumard, T., Perraut, K., Perrin, G., Petrov, R., Pfuhl, O., Pourré, N., Rabien, S., Rau, C., Riquelme, M., Robbe-Dubois, S., Rochat, S., Salman, M., Sanchez-Bermudez, J., Santos, D. J. D., Scheithauer, S., Schöller, M., Schubert, J., Schuhler, N., Shangguan, J., Shchekaturov, P., Shimizu, T. T., Sevin, A., Soulez, F., Spang, A., Stadler, E., Sternberg, A., Straubmeier, C., Sturm, E., Sykes, C., Tacconi, L. J., Tristram, K. R. W., Vincent, F., von Fellenberg, S., Uysal, S., Widmann, F., Wieprecht, E., Wiezorrek, E., Woillez, J., and Zins, G.
- Abstract
Tight relationships exist in the local universe between the central stellar properties of galaxies and the mass of their supermassive black hole. These suggest galaxies and black holes co-evolve, with the main regulation mechanism being energetic feedback from accretion onto the black hole during its quasar phase. A crucial question is how the relationship between black holes and galaxies evolves with time; a key epoch to probe this relationship is at the peaks of star formation and black hole growth 8-12 billion years ago (redshifts 1-3). Here we report a dynamical measurement of the mass of the black hole in a luminous quasar at a redshift of 2, with a look back time of 11 billion years, by spatially resolving the broad line region. We detect a 40 micro-arcsecond (0.31 pc) spatial offset between the red and blue photocenters of the H$\alpha$ line that traces the velocity gradient of a rotating broad line region. The flux and differential phase spectra are well reproduced by a thick, moderately inclined disk of gas clouds within the sphere of influence of a central black hole with a mass of 3.2x10$^{8}$ solar masses. Molecular gas data reveal a dynamical mass for the host galaxy of 6x10$^{11}$ solar masses, which indicates an under-massive black hole accreting at a super-Eddington rate. This suggests a host galaxy that grew faster than the supermassive black hole, indicating a delay between galaxy and black hole formation for some systems., Comment: 5 pages Main text, 8 figures, 2 tables, to be published in Nature, under embargo until 29 January 2024 16:00 (London)
- Published
- 2024
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