A RADIO RELIC and a SEARCH for the CENTRAL BLACK HOLE in the ABELL 2261 BRIGHTEST CLUSTER GALAXY Sarah Burke-Spolaor1,2,3,4 Kayhan Gultekin¨ 5, Marc Postman6, Tod R
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Faculty Scholarship 2017 A Radio Relic And A Search For The eC ntral Black Hole In The Abell 2261 Brightest Cluster Galaxy Sarah Burke-Spolaor Kayhan Gültekin Marc Postman Tod R. Lauer Joanna M. Taylor See next page for additional authors Follow this and additional works at: https://researchrepository.wvu.edu/faculty_publications Digital Commons Citation Burke-Spolaor, Sarah; Gültekin, Kayhan; Postman, Marc; Lauer, Tod R.; Taylor, Joanna M.; Lazio, T. Joseph W.; and Moustakas, Leonidas A., "A Radio Relic And A Search For The eC ntral Black Hole In The Abell 2261 Brightest Cluster Galaxy" (2017). Faculty Scholarship. 448. https://researchrepository.wvu.edu/faculty_publications/448 This Article is brought to you for free and open access by The Research Repository @ WVU. It has been accepted for inclusion in Faculty Scholarship by an authorized administrator of The Research Repository @ WVU. For more information, please contact [email protected]. Authors Sarah Burke-Spolaor, Kayhan Gültekin, Marc Postman, Tod R. Lauer, Joanna M. Taylor, T. Joseph W. Lazio, and Leonidas A. Moustakas This article is available at The Research Repository @ WVU: https://researchrepository.wvu.edu/faculty_publications/448 Draft version September 5, 2018 Preprint typeset using LATEX style emulateapj v. 12/16/11 A RADIO RELIC AND A SEARCH FOR THE CENTRAL BLACK HOLE IN THE ABELL 2261 BRIGHTEST CLUSTER GALAXY Sarah Burke-Spolaor1,2,3,4 Kayhan Gultekin¨ 5, Marc Postman6, Tod R. Lauer7, Joanna M. Taylor6, T. Joseph W. Lazio8, and Leonidas A. Moustakas8 Draft version September 5, 2018 ABSTRACT We present VLA images and HST/STIS spectra of sources within the center of the brightest cluster galaxy (BCG) in Abell 2261. These observations were obtained to test the hypothesis that its ex- tremely large, flat core reflects the ejection of its supermassive black hole. Spectra of three of the four most luminous \knots" embedded in the core were taken to test whether one may represent stars bound −1 to a displaced massive black hole. The three knots have radial velocity offsets (j∆V j . 150 km s ) from the BCG. Knots 2 and 3 show kinematics, colors, and stellar masses consistent with infalling low-mass galaxies or larger stripped cluster members. Large errors in the stellar velocity dispersion of Knot 1, however, mean that we cannot rule out the hypothesis that it hosts a high-mass black hole. A2261-BCG has a compact, relic radio-source offset by 6:5 kpc (projected) from the optical core's center, but no active radio core that would pinpoint the galaxy's central black hole to a tight 10 GHz flux limit < 3:6 µJy. Its spectrum and morphology are suggestive of an active galactic nucleus that switched off > 48 Myr ago, with an equipartition condition magnetic field of 15 µG. These observations are still consistent with the hypothesis that the nuclear black hole has been ejected from its core, but the critical task of locating the supermassive black hole or demonstrating that A2261-BCG lacks one remains to be done. Subject headings: galaxies: nuclei | galaxies: kinematics and dynamics | galaxies: jets 1. IS THE LARGE CORE IN A2261-BCG DUE TO AN Postman et al. (2012) identified A2261-BCG as a EJECTED BLACK HOLE? galaxy hosting an exceptionally large core. The stellar It is now understood that supermassive back holes surface brightness distribution has a cusp radius (the ra- are not only common to the centers of galaxies, but dius at which the local logarithmic slope of the profile is have masses closely tied to the properties of their hosts −1=2) of rγ = 3:2 kpc. Its core is thus twice as big as that (Magorrian et al. 1998; Gebhardt et al. 2000; Ferrarese in the NGC 6166, the BCG with the largest core in the & Merritt 2000). A galaxy and its black hole are formed Lauer et al. (2007) compilation, which incorporates the and evolve together, each influencing the other. The ex- extensive HST imaging survey of nearby BCGs of Laine istence of \cores" in the central distribution of stars in lu- et al. (2003). L´opez-Cruz et al. (2014) subsequently iden- minous elliptical galaxies are hypothesized to be a promi- tified an even larger core in A85-BCG, but the core in nent example of just such a mechanism where the action A2261-BCG remains a strong outlier in comparison to of the nuclear black hole has shaped the central struc- those of nearly all giant elliptical galaxies studied so far. ture of the galaxy itself. Cores are regions over which the Postman et al. (2012) further show that the A2261- central stellar density distribution breaks as the center of BCG has a completely flat or even slightly depressed the galaxy is approached, in contrast to the steep enve- brightness profile interior to the core. Most cores gen- lope density profile of the surrounding galaxy. They were erally have singular, if shallow, cusps interior to the cusp first seen in high resolution images of elliptical galax- radius (Lauer et al. 1995, 2005). A small number of ies obtained from the ground (Lauer 1985a; Kormendy galaxies have cores with centrally decreasing brightness 1985), and studied extensively in Hubble Space Telescope profiles, but they are rare (Lauer et al. 2002, 2005). Post- (HST) images (Ferrarese et al. 1994; Lauer et al. 1995; man et al. (2012) hypothesized that both the large core Laine et al. 2003; Lauer et al. 2005). and flat structure could be explained if the nuclear black arXiv:1709.07489v1 [astro-ph.GA] 21 Sep 2017 hole had been ejected from the center of system. 1 Center for Gravitational Waves and Cosmology, West Vir- The mass of the expected nuclear black hole (M•) in ginia University, Chestnut Ridge Research Building, Morgan- 9 A2261-BCG is predicted to be between 5:6±1:0×10 M town, WV 26505. Email: [email protected] 9 2 and approximately 11 × 10 M , based on the observed Department of Physics and Astronomy, West Virginia Uni- −1 versity, Morgantown, WV 26506, USA velocity distribution (σ = 387 km s , Postman et al.) 3 National Radio Astronomy Observatory, Socorro, New Mex- and the M• − σ relations of Kormendy & Ho (2013) ico 87801, USA and McConnell et al. (2011), respectively. A somewhat 4 Jansky Fellow for a portion of this work. 5 University of Michigan, Department of Astronomy, 301E higher upper limit on the mass of the A2261-BCG nuclear West Hall, 1085 S. University Ave., Ann Arbor, MI 48109 black hole can be derived from the fundamental-plane of 6 Space Telescope Science Institute, 3700 San Martin Drive, the black hole activity (Merloni et al. 2003), which esti- Baltimore, MD 21218 mates M from a combination of the core radio luminos- 7 National Optical Astronomy Observatory, P.O. Box 26732, • Tucson, AZ 85726 ity and the nuclear X-ray emission. Hlavacek-Larrondo 8 Jet Propulsion Laboratory, California Institute of Technol- et al. (2012) use this approach to obtain an estimate of ogy, 4800 Oak Grove Dr., Pasadena CA 91106 2 Burke-Spolaor et al. +8:0 10 M• = 2:0−1:6 × 10 M for A2261-BCG. nucleus activity might mark the black hole. In x4 we dis- Begelman et al. (1980) suggested that the merger of cuss how and if the present observations have advanced two galaxies, each hosting a central supermassive black or refuted the ejected black hole hypothesis. −1 hole, would form a binary black hole at the center of the Throughout this paper, we assume Ho = 70 km s −1 merged system. The binary might then \scour" out a Mpc ,ΩΛ = 0:7, and Ωm = 0:3. Note also that we core in the merged system as central stars would grav- adopt two key redshift values throughout this paper. One itationally interact with the binary, drawing orbital en- is the BCG redshift, z = 0:22331 ± 0:00024 (Abazajian ergy from it and causing them to be ejected from the et al. 2009), and the other is the mean A2261 cluster red- center. N-body simulations have demonstrated this phe- shift, 0:2248 ± 0:0002 (based on over 250 confirmed clus- nomenon directly (Ebisuzaki et al. 1991; Makino 1997; ter members). For BCG-related calculations we use the Milosavljevi´c& Merritt 2001). Faber et al. (1997) offered value of 0.22331, while for cluster-wide computations, we strong observational support for this scenario, showing use 0.2248. The radial velocity offset of the A2261 BCG that the most luminous elliptical galaxies nearly always relative to the cluster mean redshift is −365 km s−1. have cores, and are correlated with slow-rotation and This velocity offset is significantly larger than the errors \boxy" isophotes in these systems, while less-luminous (given above) in either the BCG redshift (±72 km s−1) or rapidly rotating ellipticals rarely have cores. Core for- or in the mean cluster velocity (±52 km s−1). The BCG mation is thus a natural end-point of \dry mergers" of offset from the cluster mean velocity is, however, signif- two progenitor galaxies. icantly smaller than the observed velocity dispersion of +75 −1 Although there is circumstantial evidence that cores A2261, which has been measured to be 725−57 km s are made by the hardening of a supermassive black hole (Rines et al. 2010). BCGs are known to exhibit a smaller binary, direct observational proof for the existence of velocity dispersion about their host cluster mean veloc- such binaries is still lacking. Other phenomena that come ity than that of the average cluster member (Lauer et al. into play during the evolution of the binary may leave 2014).