* Astronomy

Title: The Mass of the Black Hole in the Quasar PG 2130+099
Authors: C. J. Grier, B. M. Peterson, M. C. Bentz, K. D. Denney, J. D. Eastman, M. Dietrich, R. W. Pogge, J. L. Prieto, D. L. DePoy, R. J. Assef, D. W. Atlee, J. Bird, M. E. Eyler, M. S. Peeples, R. Siverd, L. C. Watson, J. C. Yee

We present the results of a recent reverberation-mapping campaign undertaken to improve measurements of the radius of the broad line region and the central black hole mass of the quasar PG 2130+099. Cross correlation of the 5100 angstrom continuum and H-beta emission-line light curves yields a time lag of 22.9 (+4.4 - 4.3) days, corresponding to a central black hole mass MBH= 3.8 (± 1.5) x 10^7 Msun. This value supports the notion that previous measurements yielded an incorrect lag. We re-analysed previous datasets to investigate the possible sources of the discrepancy and conclude that previous measurement errors were apparently caused by a combination of undersampling of the light curves and long-term secular changes in the H-beta emission-line equivalent width. With our new measurements, PG 2130+099 is no longer an outlier in either the R-L or the MBH-Sigma relationships.

Read more (102kb, PDF)