A search for an intermediate-mass black hole in the core of the globular cluster NGC 6266

McNamara, Bernard J., Harrison, Thomas E., Baumgardt, Holger and Khalaj, Pouria (2012) A search for an intermediate-mass black hole in the core of the globular cluster NGC 6266. Astrophysical Journal, 745 2: 1-7.


Author McNamara, Bernard J.
Harrison, Thomas E.
Baumgardt, Holger
Khalaj, Pouria
Title A search for an intermediate-mass black hole in the core of the globular cluster NGC 6266
Journal name Astrophysical Journal  (ERA 2012 Listed)    (ERA 2010 Rank A*)   Check publisher's open access policy
Publication date 2012-02
Sub-type Article
DOI 10.1088/0004-637X/745/2/175
Volume number 745
Issue number 2
ISSN 0004-637X
Start page 1
End page 7
Total pages 7
Place of publication Philadelphia, PA, United States
Publisher Institute of Physics Publishing
Collection year 2013
Language eng
Formatted abstract It has long been thought that intermediate-mass black holes (IMBHs) might be located in the cores of globular clusters. However, studies attempting to confirm this possibility have been inconclusive. To refine the search for these objects, Baumgardt et al. completed a series of N-body simulations to determine the observational properties that a host globular cluster should possess. Keys to revealing the presence of an IMBH were found to be the shape of the cluster’s core proper motion dispersion profile and its surface density profile. Among the possible host clusters identified by Baumgardt et al., NGC 6266 was found to be the most suitable object to search. Hubble Space Telescope Wide Field Planetary Camera 2 images with an epoch difference of eight years were, therefore, used to measure this cluster’s internal proper motion dispersion profile from 0.8 arcsec to 17 arcsec from the cluster center. This profile and the surface density profiles obtained by Noyola & Gebhardt and Trager et al. were then compared to those produced by N-body simulations of NGC 6266 with and without an IMBH.We find that a centrally located IMBH is not required to match these profiles, but that an IMBH with a 1σ upper limit mass of less than a few thousand Mʘ cannot be excluded. To establish the existence of this object, the exact location of the density center and more precise velocity measurements within the inner 1 arcsec of this center are required. Our best-fitting model of NGC 6266 without an IMBH yields a cluster mass of M = 8.22 ± 0.17 × 105 Mʘ, leading to a  mass-to-light ratio of M/LV = 2.05 ± 0.04.
Keyword Globular clusters: individual (NGC 6266)
Q-Index Code C1
Q-Index Status Confirmed Code
Institutional Status UQ

Document type: Journal Article
Sub-type: Article
Collections: School of Mathematics and Physics
Official 2013 Collection
 
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