The Most Precise Extra-Galactic Black-Hole Mass Measurement
Abstract
I use archival data to measure the mass of the central black hole in NGC 4526, M = (4.70 +- 0.14) X 108 Msun. This 3% error bar is the most precise for an extra-galactic black hole and is close to the precision obtained for Sgr A* in the Milky Way. The factor 7 improvement over the previous measurement is entirely due to correction of a mathematical error, an error that I suggest may be common among astronomers.
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