Mass Estimations of Black Holes in IC 2560 and UGC 3193 Using General Relativity

Recent research by Adriana González-Juárez and Alfredo Herrera-Aguilar focuses on estimating the mass of black holes in the active galactic nuclei (AGN) of the galaxies IC 2560 and UGC 3193. The study employs a general relativistic method to analyze the central supermassive black holes (BHs) within these galaxies. By utilizing megamaser astrophysical data and a Bayesian statistical approach, the authors have successfully calculated the mass of the black holes, their positions in the sky, and the recession velocities of the host galaxies.

This research marks a significant advancement as it provides the first mass estimation for the black hole in UGC 3193. Additionally, the study calculates the gravitational redshift of the closest maser to these black holes, highlighting a general relativistic effect that does not have a counterpart in Newtonian physics. The findings contribute to a better understanding of the characteristics and behaviors of black holes in AGNs, which are critical for the broader field of astrophysics.

The full paper can be accessed at arXiv:2409.00772.