Timing the starburst AGN connection
28/02/10 22:39
Vivienne Wild, Tim Heckman, Stephane Charlot ADS
The existence of a correlation between the mass of stars in the bulge of local galaxies, and the masses of the supermassive black holes at the centres of these galaxies (M-sigma relation), suggests a joint mechanism by which both objects grow together. The difference in scales is enormous however, and finding a physical process which can robustly link the masses of a stellar bulge 1000 times more massive than the central supermassive black hole, has been keeping theorists busy for many years.
Here we use the enormous statistical power of the Sloan Digital Sky Survey to directly measure when the black hole starts to grow during a strong burst of star-formation.
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The existence of a correlation between the mass of stars in the bulge of local galaxies, and the masses of the supermassive black holes at the centres of these galaxies (M-sigma relation), suggests a joint mechanism by which both objects grow together. The difference in scales is enormous however, and finding a physical process which can robustly link the masses of a stellar bulge 1000 times more massive than the central supermassive black hole, has been keeping theorists busy for many years.
Here we use the enormous statistical power of the Sloan Digital Sky Survey to directly measure when the black hole starts to grow during a strong burst of star-formation.
Read More...
