The mass of the black hole in RE J1034+396

TL;DR

This paper estimates the black hole mass in RE J1034+396 using multiple methods, revealing discrepancies among different measurement techniques and highlighting the challenges in such determinations.

Contribution

The study applies various independent methods to estimate the black hole mass in RE J1034+396, providing a comprehensive comparison and highlighting inconsistencies among techniques.

Findings

Most mass estimates are between 1e6 and 1e7 solar masses.

Dynamical methods yield higher mass values than emission line methods.

Different methods produce contradictory results, emphasizing measurement challenges.

Abstract

The black hole mass measurement in active galaxies is a challenge, particularly in sources where the reverberation method cannot be applied. We aim to determine the black hole mass in a very special object, RE J1034+396, one of the two AGN with QPO oscillations detected in X-rays, and a single bright AGN with optical band totally dominated by starlight. We fit the stellar content using the code starlight, and the broad band disk contribution to optical/UV/X-ray emission is modeled with optxagnf. We also determine the black hole mass using several other independent methods. Various methods give contradictory results. Most measurements of the blacc hole mass are in the range 1.e6-1.e7 Msun, and the measurements based on dynamics give higher values than measurements based on Hbeta and Mg II emission lines.