A NORMAL SUPERMASSIVE BLACK HOLE in NGC 1277

The identification of galaxies with "overly massive" black holes requires two measurements: a black hole mass (M_bh) and a host spheroid mass (M_sph,∗). Here we provide our measurements for NGC 1277. Our structural decomposition reveals that NGC 1277 is dominated by a "classical" spheroid with a Sérsic index n = 5.3, a half-light radius R_e,major = 2.1 kpc,, and a stellar mass of 2.7 × 10¹¹ M_⊙ (using M_∗/L_V = 11.65, Martín-Navarro et al.). This mass is an order of magnitude greater than originally reported. Using the latest M_bh-n, M_bh- M_sph,∗, and M_bh-σ relations, the expected black hole mass is, respectively, (0.57^+1.29_-0.40 × 10⁹ M_⊙, 1.58^+4.04_-1.13 × 10⁹ M_⊙, and (2.27^+4.04_-1.44 × 10⁹ M_⊙ (using σ = 300 km s^-1) for which the "sphere-of-influence" is 0.″31. Our new kinematical maps obtained from laser guide star assisted, adaptive optics on the Keck I Telescope dramatically reaffirm the presence of the inner, nearly edge-on, disk seen in the galaxy image. We also report that this produces a large velocity shear (∼400 km s^-1) across the inner 0.″2 (70 pc) plus elevated values of √ σ² + V² across the inner region (±3.″8) × (±0.″6) of the galaxy. Our new multi-Gaussian expansion (MGE) models and Jeans Anisotropic MGE analysis struggled to match this extended component. Our optimal black hole mass, albeit a probable upper limit because of the disk is 1.2 ×10⁹ M_⊙ (M/L_V = 12.3). This is an order of magnitude smaller than originally reported and 4 times smaller than recently reported. It gives an M_bh/M_sph,∗ ratio of 0.45% in agreement with the median (≈0.5%) and range (0.1%-5.0%) observed in non-dwarf, early-type galaxies. This result highlights the need for caution with inner disks.