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Paper: Supermassive Black Holes in Spiral Galaxies
Volume: 290, Active Galactic Nuclei: from Central Engine to Host Galaxy
Page: 567
Authors: Macchetto, F. D.
Abstract: We have carried out a number of observations of the nuclear regions of Seyfert galaxies using the STIS spectrograph on board the HST, and a number of spectrographs at different ground based telescopes. For each of these galaxies we have measured the rotation curve and determined the mass distribution within 5-50 pc. We have modeled the stellar mass component using existing HST images and we have derived the masses of the black holes in each galaxy. The questions that we address are: what is the typical mass of the balck hole in Seyfert galaxies? Are Seyfert galaxies scaled down versions of QSOs or are they relics, accreting at a low rate? How do the black hole masses of Seyfert 1 compared with those of Seyfert 2? How do our result compare with those obtained with the reverberation mapping technique, which is however limited to Seyfert 1 galaxies? These results will be very important in clarifying the role of the black hole in powering the AGN, will shed light into the effectiveness of the accretion and finally will be important in addressing the fundamental issue of unification for Seyfert 1 and 2.
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