A2261-BCG

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A2261-BCG
Galaxy Cluster Abell 2261.jpg
The Abell 2261 galaxy cluster, with A2261-BCG the bright elliptical galaxy near the top center.
Observation data (J2000 epoch)
Constellation Hercules
Right ascension 17h 22m 27.173s [1]
Declination +32° 07′ 57.18″ [1]
Redshift 0.223263±0.000041 [1]
Heliocentric radial velocity 66,933±12 km/s [2]
Galactocentric velocity67,103±14 km/s [2]
Distance 992.5 ± 69.5  Mpc (3,237 ± 226.7  Mly)h−1
0.6774 [2] [a]
Group or cluster Abell 2261 [2]
Apparent magnitude  (V)19.2 [2]
Characteristics
Type cD [2]
Number of stars10 trillion (1013)[ citation needed ]
Size544,620  ly × 533,790 ly
(166.98  kpc × 163.66 kpc)
( diameter; 2MASS K-band total isophote) [2] [b]
Apparent size  (V)0.263′ × 0.221′ [3]
Other designations
2MASX J17222717+3207571, SDSS J172227.18+320757.2, PGC 1981854 [1]

A2261-BCG (short for Abell 2261 Brightest Cluster Galaxy) is a supergiant elliptical galaxy in the galaxy cluster Abell 2261. One of the largest galaxies known, A2261-BCG is estimated to have an isophotal diameter of about 166.98 kiloparsecs (544,620 light-years ), roughly 6 times larger than the Milky Way. [2] [b] It is the brightest and most massive galaxy in the cluster, and has one of the largest galactic cores ever observed, spanning over 10,000 light-years. [4]

Contents

The cD elliptical galaxy, located at 992.5 megaparsecs (3.24 billion light-years) from Earth, is also well known as a radio source. [1] Its core is highly populated by a dense number of old stars, but is mysteriously diffuse, giving it a large core. [4]

Possible supermassive black hole

On September 10, 2012, using Hubble Space Telescope's Wide Field Camera 3, A2261-BCG was not found to contain an active supermassive black hole of at least 1010 M☉ at its center. [4] This is maybe due to a black hole merger that created gravity waves, rippling in the fabric of space, or two central black holes orbiting each other, with one of them native to the galaxy while the second black hole may have been added from a smaller former galaxy that A2261-BCG may have gobbled up. [4] Furthermore, since a supermassive black hole will only be visible while it is accreting, a supermassive black hole can be nearly invisible, except in its effects on stellar orbits. This implies that either A2261-BGC has a central black hole that is accreting at a low level or has a mass rather below 1010 M☉. [5]

Despite the lack of evidence, several studies derived mass estimates for a possible central black hole, such as about between 5.4 billion and 65 billion M☉ [6] [7] or between 6 billion and 11 billion M☉, [5] which would make it one of the most massive black holes.

Notes

  1. ↑ The distance estimate in this infobox was based on the galaxy's redshift.
  2. 1 2 The quick-look major axis physical diameter given by NED of 151.74 by 148.71 kiloparsecs (495,000 by 485,000 light-years) was based on a distance estimate of 902 ± 141.359 megaparsecs (2,942 ± 461.1 million light-years). The quoted diameters in this infobox were based on NED's provided scale "Virgo + GA + Shapley" of 973 pc/arcsec multiplied by the given angular diameters.

References

  1. 1 2 3 4 5 "2MASX J17222717+3207571". SIMBAD . Centre de données astronomiques de Strasbourg . Retrieved 2013-12-13.
  2. 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 "Detailed Information for Object ABELL 2261 BCG". NASA/IPAC Extragalactic Database . Retrieved September 11, 2023.
  3. ↑ Skrutskie, M. F.; et al. (2006). "The Two Micron All Sky Survey (2MASS)". The Astronomical Journal. 131 (2): 1163. Bibcode:2006AJ....131.1163S. doi:10.1086/498708.
  4. 1 2 3 4 "NASA feature". Monster Galaxy May Have Been Stirred Up By Black-hole Mischief. 25 October 2012. Retrieved 2013-12-13.
  5. 1 2 Gültekin, Kayhan; Burke-Spolaor, Sarah; Lauer, Tod R.; w. Lazio, T. Joseph; Moustakas, Leonidas A.; Ogle, Patrick; Postman, Marc (2021). "Chandra Observations of Abell 2261 Brightest Cluster Galaxy, a Candidate Host to a Recoiling Black Hole". The Astrophysical Journal. 906 (1): 48. arXiv: 2010.13980 . Bibcode:2021ApJ...906...48G. doi: 10.3847/1538-4357/abc483 . S2CID   225075966.
  6. ↑ Dullo, B.T. (22 November 2019). "The Most Massive Galaxies with Large Depleted Cores: Structural Parameter Relations and Black Hole Masses". The Astrophysical Journal. 886 (2): 80. arXiv: 1910.10240 . Bibcode:2019ApJ...886...80D. doi: 10.3847/1538-4357/ab4d4f . S2CID   204838306.
  7. ↑ Dullo, B.T.; de Paz, A.G.; Knapen, J.H. (18 February 2021). "Ultramassive black holes in the most massive galaxies: MBH−σ versus MBH−Rb". The Astrophysical Journal. 908 (2): 134. arXiv: 2012.04471 . Bibcode:2021ApJ...908..134D. doi: 10.3847/1538-4357/abceae . S2CID   227745078.


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