Assigned ID: 8 ----- Attempting Submission 1 (Sat Feb 04 18:54:35 GMT 2012) ----- HST Phase I Proposal 8 (archive.pdf.apt) successfully submitted. ----- Attempting Submission 2 (Sun Feb 19 16:05:11 GMT 2012) ----- The scaling relation between black hole (BH) mass and bulge luminosity is a fundamental tool to study the interplay between BH growth and galaxy formation. Recent studies suggest that the BH-bulge relation evolves rapidly with redshift. This potentially very important result critically depends on our knowledge of the local scaling relation for actively growing BHs (namely AGNs), which is still poorly known. In two prior archival programs, we have embarked on an extensive effort to characterize the zeropoint, slope, and scatter of the BH mass-bulge luminosity relation for a sample of 235 local (z < 0.35) broad-line AGNs (quasars and Seyfert 1s). This is the largest, most comprehensive sample to date, one that spans the widest range in luminosity, BH mass, and host morphology. This work serves as the definitive reference point for all investigations of the cosmic evolution of the BH-host relations. Our analysis employs a sophisticated new technique to decompose the 2-D structure of the host galaxies with unprecedented accuracy. We find that the scaling relation in the R band shows significant intrinsic scatter that depends systematically on Eddington ratio (accretion rate). AGNs with higher Eddington ratio tend to have either lower BH masses or more luminous bulges. The latter could be caused by enhanced ongoing or recent star formation linked to BH accretion. We propose to test this interesting possibility and to resolve this important ambiguity by studying the color and color gradients of the hosts using all available multi-filter data in the archives. Over 40% (101/235) of our parent sample contains usable WFPC2, ACS, and NICMOS images for this purpose. AGN/QUASARS 12 Medium false 0.0 0.0 false false false false SUPPORTED