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Gaseous Disks in the Nuclei of Elliptical Galaxies

Published online by Cambridge University Press:  12 April 2016

H. Ford
Affiliation:
The Johns Hopkins University, Baltimore, MD 21218
Z. Tsvetanov
Affiliation:
The Johns Hopkins University, Baltimore, MD 21218
L. Ferrarese
Affiliation:
The Johns Hopkins University, Baltimore, MD 21218
G. Kriss
Affiliation:
The Johns Hopkins University, Baltimore, MD 21218
W. Jaffe
Affiliation:
The University of Leiden, Neils Bohr Weg. 2, Leiden, Netherlands
R. Harms
Affiliation:
RJH Scientific Inc., Alexandria, VA 22303
L. Dressel
Affiliation:
RJH Scientific Inc., Alexandria, VA 22303

Abstract

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HST images have led to the discovery that small (r ~ 1″ r ~ 100 – 200 pc), well-defined, gaseous disks are common in the nuclei of elliptical galaxies. Measurements of rotational velocities in the disks provide a means to measure the central mass and search for massive black holes in the parent galaxies. The minor axes of these disks are closely aligned with the directions of the large–scale radio jets, suggesting that it is angular momentum of the disk rather than that of the black hole that determines the direction of the radio jets. Because the disks are directly observable, we can study the disks themselves, and investigate important questions which cannot be directly addressed with observations of the smaller and unresolved central accretion disks. In this paper we summarize what has been learned to date in this rapidly unfolding new field.

Type
Part 13. Large and Small Scale Disks in AGN
Copyright
Copyright © Astronomical Society of the Pacific 1997

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