The Binary Nucleus in Vcc 128: a Candidate Supermassive Black Hole in a Dwarf Elliptical Galaxy
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چکیده
Hubble Space Telescope (HST) Wide Field Planetary Camera 2 (WFPC2) images of the Virgo Cluster dwarf elliptical galaxy VCC 128 reveal an apparently double nucleus. The two components, which are separated by ∼ 32 pc in projection, have the same magnitude and color. We present a spectrum of this double nucleus and show that it is inconsistent with one or both components being emission-line background objects or foreground stars. The most likely interpretation is that, as suggested by Lauer et al. (1996) for the double nucleus in NGC 4486B, we are seeing a nuclear disk surrounding a supermassive black hole. This is only the second time an early-type dwarf (dE/dSph) galaxy has been suggested to host a SMBH. Subject headings: galaxies: dwarf — galaxies: individual (VCC 128) — galaxies: nuclei — galaxies: photometry — galaxies: stellar content
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تاریخ انتشار 2006