A massive object in the core of NGC 5055?

Abstract

In a global kinematical study of NGC 5055 using high resolution Fabry-Perot, intriguing spectral line profiles have been observed in the center of the galaxy. These profiles seem to indicate a rapidly rotating disk with a radius near 365 pc and tilted 50 $°$ with respect to the major axis of the galaxy. In the hypothesis of a massive dark object, a naive keplerian estimate gives a mass around $10^7.2$ to $10^7.5 M_\odot$. The limited spectral domain of the Fabry-Perot leaves some ambiguity on the exact movement and velocity of this H$α$ emission. 2-D spectroscopy with a larger spectral range (eg.: TIGRE, OASIS) is thus required.