English

Extended Structure and Fate of the Nucleus in Henize 2-10

Astrophysics of Galaxies 2015-06-22 v2

Abstract

We investigate the structure and nuclear region of the black hole (BH) hosting galaxy Henize2-10. Surface brightness (SB) profiles are analyzed using Magellan/Megacam gg- and rr-band images. Excluding the central starburst, we find a best-fit two component S\'ersic profile with nin0.6n_{\rm in} \sim 0.6, reff,inr_{\text{eff,in}} \sim 260~pc, and nout1.8n_{\rm out}\sim 1.8, reff, outr_{\text{eff, out}}\sim 1 kpc. Integrating out to our outer most data point (100 arc sec \sim 4.3 kpc), we calculate Mg=19.2M_g=-19.2 and Mr=19.8M_r=-19.8. The corresponding enclosed stellar mass is M(10±3)×109M_{\star}\sim(10\pm3)\times10^9 M_\odot, 3×\sim3\times larger than previous estimates. Apart from the central \lesssim500 pc, with blue colors and an irregular morphology, the galaxy appears to be an early-type system. The outer color is quite red, (gr)0=0.75(g-r)_0=0.75, suggesting a dominant old population. We study the nuclear region of the galaxy using archival Gemini/NIFS KK-band adaptive optics spectroscopy and {\it Hubble Space Telescope} imaging. We place an upper limit on the BH mass of 107M\sim10^7M_{\odot} from the NIFS data, consistent with that from the MBHM_{\rm BH}-radio-X-ray fundamental plane. No coronal lines are seen, but a Brγ\gamma source is located at the position of the BH with a luminosity consistent with the X-ray emission. The starburst at the center of Henize 2-10 has led to the formation of several super star clusters, which are within \sim100 pc of the BH. We examine the fate of the nucleus by estimating the dynamical masses and dynamical friction timescales of the clusters. The most massive clusters (106M\sim 10^6 M_\odot) have τdyn200\tau_{\rm dyn} \lesssim 200 Myr, and thus Henize 2-10 may represent a rare snapshot of nuclear star cluster formation around a pre-existing massive BH.

Keywords

Cite

@article{arxiv.1408.4446,
  title  = {Extended Structure and Fate of the Nucleus in Henize 2-10},
  author = {Dieu D. Nguyen and Anil C. Seth and Amy E. Reines and Mark den Brok and David Sand and Brian McLeod},
  journal= {arXiv preprint arXiv:1408.4446},
  year   = {2015}
}

Comments

15 pages, 9 figures, ApJ accepted