12162( 2) - 08-Jul-2010 18:36:51 - [ 1] HUBBLE SPACE TELESCOPE OBSERVING PROGRAM 12162 Version: 2 Check-in Time: 08-Jul-2010 18:36:51 STScI Edit Number: 0 Title A Definitive Gas-Dynamical Measurement of the Black Hole Mass in M87 ------------------------------------------------------------------------------------ Type Cycle GO 18 ------------------------------------------------------------------------------------ Investigators Contact? PI: Dr. Aaron J. Barth University of California - Irvine CoI: Dr. Luis C. Ho Carnegie Institution of Washington N CoI: Ms. Jonelle L. Walsh University of California - Irvine N CoI: Dr. Marc Sarzi University of Hertfordshire N ------------------------------------------------------------------------------------ Abstract M87 contains the most massive black hole that has been detected dynamically in any nearby galaxy, and it provides a crucial anchor for the uppermost end of the correlations between black hole mass and host galaxy properties. However, the best current measurements of the black hole mass from stellar dynamics and from the dynamics of the circumnuclear ionized gas disk disagree by a factor of 2, and the discrepancy is significant at the 3-sigma level. Since M87 provides crucial information on the top of the M-sigma relation, it is important to determine the cause of this disagreement and to resolve this discrepancy. Our goal is to improve the gas-dynamical measurement of the central mass of M87. This work will improve on the past measurements by (a) fully mapping out the kinematic structure of the nuclear emission-line disk, and (b) carrying out comprehensive dynamical modeling, including the possible effects of pressure support or asymmetric drift, which were not considered in past measurements for M87. To accomplish this, we propose to obtain new STIS G750M spectra with the 52X0.1 slit, at five parallel and contiguous positions covering the inner portion of the nuclear disk. Our kinematic measurements and dynamical modeling will provide one of the best comparison tests between gas and stellar dynamical measurements of black hole masses, and an important new constraint on the upper end of the M-sigma relation. ------------------------------------------------------------------------------------ Observations Description ------------------------ Our goal is to map out the kinematic structure of the nuclear disk in M87 using 5 parallel slit positions with STIS. We will use the 52X0.1E1 aperture, and the G750M grating with wavelength setting 6581 to cover the H-alpha and [NII] emission lines. In order to have the slit PA close to the disk's kinematic major axis at PA=38deg (within + or - 15deg of this PA), we require the ORIENT parameter for our visit to be between 68-98deg or between 248-278deg. We will do a standard point source acquisition and peakup, since the central AGN in M87 is very compact and pointlike. Using the previous STIS acquisition image from program GO-8666 as a reference, we find that 10 sec is a good exposure time for the acquisition image, and we will use 15 sec for the peakup exposure time in the 0.1 arcsec slit. We aim to obtain approximately 1 orbit of exposure time at each of the 5 parallel slit positions, and at each position we will use a STIS-ALONG-SLIT pattern to dither for cosmic-ray and bad pixel cleaning. 12162( 2) - 08-Jul-2010 18:36:51 - [ 2] Following the peakup in the first orbit, we will obtain 3 dithered exposures with the slit at the nucleus, and then in orbit 2 we will obtain 2 additional dithered exposures at the nuclear position in order to improve the S/N at the important central slit position covering the nucleus. After that, during orbit 2 we will then offset by +0.2 arcsec in x using a POS-TARG move and obtain 3 exposures at the +0.2 offset position. For orbits 3, 4, and 5, we will begin each orbit with a POS-TARG offset to move to a new slit position (+0.1, -0.1, and -0.2 arcsec in x), and then use a 4-point STIS-ALONG-SLIT dither pattern at each offset position, obtaining a full orbit of integration at each of these 3 positions. Each orbit will include an auto-wavecal. Real Time Justification ----------------------- Calibration Justification ------------------------- Additional Comments ------------------- ------------------------------------------------------------------------------------ 12162( 2) - 08-Jul-2010 18:36:51 - [ 3] TARGET LIST Fixed Targets ------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------ Tar| Target | Target | Target |Coord | Radial | Flux data No | Name | Description | Position |Eqnx | Vel. | ------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------ 1 M-87 GALAXY, ELLIPTICAL, RA=12H30M49.4234S +/- 0.1", J2000 Z = V = 8.63 LINER, NLR, NUCLEUS, DEC=+12D23'28.04" +/- 0.1" 0.004360 RADIO GALAXY Reference Frame: ICRS Comments: This object was generated by the targetselector and retrieved from the SIMBAD database. Coordinates confirmed with 2MASS image. ------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------ 12162( 2) - 08-Jul-2010 18:36:51 - [ 4] Patterns ------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------ Pattern_Number: 1 Primary_Pattern Secondary_Pattern Pattern_Type STIS-ALONG-SLIT Pattern_Purpose DITHER Number_Of_Points 3 Point_Spacing 0.15 Line_Spacing Coordinate_Frame POS-TARG Pattern_Orient 90.0 Angle_Between_Sides Center_Pattern NO ------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------ Pattern_Number: 2 Primary_Pattern Secondary_Pattern Pattern_Type STIS-ALONG-SLIT Pattern_Purpose DITHER Number_Of_Points 2 Point_Spacing 0.15 Line_Spacing Coordinate_Frame POS-TARG Pattern_Orient 90.0 Angle_Between_Sides Center_Pattern NO ------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------ Pattern_Number: 3 Primary_Pattern Secondary_Pattern Pattern_Type STIS-ALONG-SLIT Pattern_Purpose DITHER Number_Of_Points 4 Point_Spacing 0.15 Line_Spacing Coordinate_Frame POS-TARG Pattern_Orient 90.0 Angle_Between_Sides Center_Pattern NO ------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------ 12162( 2) - 08-Jul-2010 18:36:51 - [ 5] Visit: 01 Visit Requirements: ORIENT 68D TO 98 D; ORIENT 248D TO 278 D On Hold Comments: Additional Comments: Exposures ------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------ Exp | Target | Instr | Oper. | Aper |Spectral|Central| Optional |Num| Time | Special Num | Name | Config | Mode | or FOV |Element |Waveln.| Parameters |Exp| | Requirements ------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------ 1 M-87 STIS/CCD ACQ F28X50LP MIRROR ACQTYPE=POINT 1 10 S ------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------ 2 M-87 STIS/CCD ACQ/PEA 52X0.1E1 MIRROR 1 15 S K ------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------ 3 M-87 STIS/CCD ACCUM 52X0.1E1 G750M 6581 CR-SPLIT=NO 1 597 S POS TARG 0, 0; PATTERN 1 3 ------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------ 4 M-87 STIS/CCD ACCUM 52X0.1E1 G750M 6581 CR-SPLIT=NO 1 560 S POS TARG 0, 0.3; PATTERN 2 4 ------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------ 5 M-87 STIS/CCD ACCUM 52X0.1E1 G750M 6581 CR-SPLIT=NO 1 507 S POS TARG 0.2, 0; PATTERN 1 5 ------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------ 6 M-87 STIS/CCD ACCUM 52X0.1E1 G750M 6581 CR-SPLIT=NO 1 677 S POS TARG 0.1, 0; PATTERN 3 6 ------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------ 7 M-87 STIS/CCD ACCUM 52X0.1E1 G750M 6581 CR-SPLIT=NO 1 677 S POS TARG -0.1, 0; PATTERN 3 7 ------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------ 8 M-87 STIS/CCD ACCUM 52X0.1E1 G750M 6581 CR-SPLIT=NO 1 677 S POS TARG -0.2, 0; PATTERN 3 8 ------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------ Sub Exposures ------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------ Target | Exp |Instr | Oper. | Aper |Spectral|Cent.|Primary |Secondary |Iteration |CR-SPLIT |Orbit |Duration Name | Num |Config | Mode | or FOV |Element |Wave.|Pattern Pos |Pattern Pos |Num |Num |Number | ------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------ M-87 1 STIS/CCD ACQ F28X50LP MIRROR none none none none 1 N/A M-87 2 STIS/CCD ACQ/PEA 52X0.1E1 MIRROR none none none none 1 N/A K M-87 3 STIS/CCD ACCUM 52X0.1E1 G750M 6581 1 none none none 1 N/A M-87 3 STIS/CCD ACCUM 52X0.1E1 G750M 6581 2 none none none 1 N/A M-87 3 STIS/CCD ACCUM 52X0.1E1 G750M 6581 3 none none none 1 N/A M-87 4 STIS/CCD ACCUM 52X0.1E1 G750M 6581 1 none none none 2 N/A M-87 4 STIS/CCD ACCUM 52X0.1E1 G750M 6581 2 none none none 2 N/A M-87 5 STIS/CCD ACCUM 52X0.1E1 G750M 6581 1 none none none 2 N/A M-87 5 STIS/CCD ACCUM 52X0.1E1 G750M 6581 2 none none none 2 N/A M-87 5 STIS/CCD ACCUM 52X0.1E1 G750M 6581 3 none none none 2 N/A M-87 6 STIS/CCD ACCUM 52X0.1E1 G750M 6581 1 none none none 3 N/A M-87 6 STIS/CCD ACCUM 52X0.1E1 G750M 6581 2 none none none 3 N/A 12162( 2) - 08-Jul-2010 18:36:51 - [ 6] Sub Exposures ------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------ Target | Exp |Instr | Oper. | Aper |Spectral|Cent.|Primary |Secondary |Iteration |CR-SPLIT |Orbit |Duration Name | Num |Config | Mode | or FOV |Element |Wave.|Pattern Pos |Pattern Pos |Num |Num |Number | ------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------ M-87 6 STIS/CCD ACCUM 52X0.1E1 G750M 6581 3 none none none 3 N/A M-87 6 STIS/CCD ACCUM 52X0.1E1 G750M 6581 4 none none none 3 N/A M-87 7 STIS/CCD ACCUM 52X0.1E1 G750M 6581 1 none none none 4 N/A M-87 7 STIS/CCD ACCUM 52X0.1E1 G750M 6581 2 none none none 4 N/A M-87 7 STIS/CCD ACCUM 52X0.1E1 G750M 6581 3 none none none 4 N/A M-87 7 STIS/CCD ACCUM 52X0.1E1 G750M 6581 4 none none none 4 N/A M-87 8 STIS/CCD ACCUM 52X0.1E1 G750M 6581 1 none none none 5 N/A M-87 8 STIS/CCD ACCUM 52X0.1E1 G750M 6581 2 none none none 5 N/A M-87 8 STIS/CCD ACCUM 52X0.1E1 G750M 6581 3 none none none 5 N/A M-87 8 STIS/CCD ACCUM 52X0.1E1 G750M 6581 4 none none none 5 N/A 12162( 2) - 08-Jul-2010 18:36:51 - [ 7] Summary Form for Proposal 12162 Item Used in this proposal ------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------ Apertures 52X0.1E1, F28X50LP ------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------ Configurations STIS/CCD ------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------ Opmodes ACCUM, ACQ, ACQ/PEAK ------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------ Optional Parameters ACQTYPE=POINT, CR-SPLIT=NO ------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------ Special Requirements ORIENT 248D TO 278 D, ORIENT 68D TO 98 D, PATTERN 1 3, PATTERN 1 5, PATTERN 2 4, PATTERN 3 6, PATTERN 3 7, PATTERN 3 8, POS TARG -0.1, 0, POS TARG -0.2, 0, POS TARG 0, 0, POS TARG 0, 0.3, POS TARG 0.1, 0, POS TARG 0.2, 0 ------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------ Spectral Elements G750M, MIRROR ------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------ Target Names M-87 ------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------