A stellar dynamical mass measurement of an inactive black hole at redshift 2

Andrew B. Newman; Meng Gu; Sirio Belli; Richard S. Ellis; Sai Gangula; Jenny E. Greene; Jonelle L. Walsh; Sherry H. Suyu; Sebastian Ertl; Gabriel Caminha; Giovanni Granata; Claudio Grillo; Stefan Schuldt; Tania M. Barone; Simeon Bird; Karl Glazebrook; Marziye Jafariyazani; Mariska Kriek; Allison Matthews; Takahiro Morishita; Themiya Nanayakkara; Justin D.R. Pierel; Ana Acebrón; Pietro Bergamini; Sangjun Cha; Jose M. Diego; Nicholas Foo; Brenda Frye; Yoshinobu Fudamoto; M. James Jee; Patrick S. Kamieneski; Anton M. Koekemoer; Asish K. Meena; Shun Nishida; Masamune Oguri; Piero Rosati; Adi Zitrin

doi:10.1126/science.adx5816

A stellar dynamical mass measurement of an inactive black hole at redshift 2

Andrew B. Newman
, Meng Gu
, Sirio Belli
, Richard S. Ellis
, Sai Gangula
, Jenny E. Greene
, Jonelle L. Walsh
, Sherry H. Suyu
, Sebastian Ertl
, Gabriel Caminha
, Giovanni Granata
, Claudio Grillo
, Stefan Schuldt
, Tania M. Barone
, Simeon Bird
, Karl Glazebrook
, Marziye Jafariyazani
, Mariska Kriek
, Allison Matthews
, Takahiro Morishita

Themiya Nanayakkara, Justin D.R. Pierel, Ana Acebrón, Pietro Bergamini, Sangjun Cha, Jose M. Diego, Nicholas Foo, Brenda Frye, Yoshinobu Fudamoto, M. James Jee, Patrick S. Kamieneski, Anton M. Koekemoer, Asish K. Meena, Shun Nishida, Masamune Oguri, Piero Rosati, Adi Zitrin

Astrophysical Sciences

Research output: Contribution to journal › Article › peer-review

Abstract

Supermassive black holes and their host galaxies grow together over time, producing correlations between the black hole mass and various galaxy properties. Determining the evolution of these correlations requires precise measurements of the masses of distant black holes. We observed the gravitationally lensed quiescent galaxy MRG-M0138 at redshift 1.95 using James Webb Space Telescope integral field spectroscopy to spatially resolve the kinematics of stars within the black hole's sphere of influence. By using a foreground lens model and fitting stellar dynamical models, we determined the mass of its inactive black hole to be M_∙ = 6.0⁺₋^2.1_1.7 × 10⁹ solar masses. Comparing this measurement to local galaxies, we found that M_∙ is higher than expected given the galaxy's bulge mass but consistent with the correlation of M_∙ with stellar velocity dispersion.

Original language	English (US)
Pages (from-to)	1065-1068
Number of pages	4
Journal	Science
Volume	392
Issue number	6802
DOIs	https://doi.org/10.1126/science.adx5816
State	Published - Jun 4 2026

All Science Journal Classification (ASJC) codes

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Newman, A. B., Gu, M., Belli, S., Ellis, R. S., Gangula, S., Greene, J. E., Walsh, J. L., Suyu, S. H., Ertl, S., Caminha, G., Granata, G., Grillo, C., Schuldt, S., Barone, T. M., Bird, S., Glazebrook, K., Jafariyazani, M., Kriek, M., Matthews, A., ... Zitrin, A. (2026). A stellar dynamical mass measurement of an inactive black hole at redshift 2. Science, 392(6802), 1065-1068. https://doi.org/10.1126/science.adx5816

@article{73c6c0481aab44e18471d136321a510d,

title = "A stellar dynamical mass measurement of an inactive black hole at redshift 2",

abstract = "Supermassive black holes and their host galaxies grow together over time, producing correlations between the black hole mass and various galaxy properties. Determining the evolution of these correlations requires precise measurements of the masses of distant black holes. We observed the gravitationally lensed quiescent galaxy MRG-M0138 at redshift 1.95 using James Webb Space Telescope integral field spectroscopy to spatially resolve the kinematics of stars within the black hole's sphere of influence. By using a foreground lens model and fitting stellar dynamical models, we determined the mass of its inactive black hole to be M∙ = 6.0+−2.11.7 × 109 solar masses. Comparing this measurement to local galaxies, we found that M∙ is higher than expected given the galaxy's bulge mass but consistent with the correlation of M∙ with stellar velocity dispersion.",

author = "Newman, \{Andrew B.\} and Meng Gu and Sirio Belli and Ellis, \{Richard S.\} and Sai Gangula and Greene, \{Jenny E.\} and Walsh, \{Jonelle L.\} and Suyu, \{Sherry H.\} and Sebastian Ertl and Gabriel Caminha and Giovanni Granata and Claudio Grillo and Stefan Schuldt and Barone, \{Tania M.\} and Simeon Bird and Karl Glazebrook and Marziye Jafariyazani and Mariska Kriek and Allison Matthews and Takahiro Morishita and Themiya Nanayakkara and Pierel, \{Justin D.R.\} and Ana Acebr{\'o}n and Pietro Bergamini and Sangjun Cha and Diego, \{Jose M.\} and Nicholas Foo and Brenda Frye and Yoshinobu Fudamoto and Jee, \{M. James\} and Kamieneski, \{Patrick S.\} and Koekemoer, \{Anton M.\} and Meena, \{Asish K.\} and Shun Nishida and Masamune Oguri and Piero Rosati and Adi Zitrin",

note = "Publisher Copyright: Copyright {\textcopyright} 2026 The Authors",

year = "2026",

month = jun,

day = "4",

doi = "10.1126/science.adx5816",

language = "English (US)",

volume = "392",

pages = "1065--1068",

journal = "Science",

issn = "0036-8075",

publisher = "American Association for the Advancement of Science",

number = "6802",

}

Newman, AB, Gu, M, Belli, S, Ellis, RS, Gangula, S, Greene, JE, Walsh, JL, Suyu, SH, Ertl, S, Caminha, G, Granata, G, Grillo, C, Schuldt, S, Barone, TM, Bird, S, Glazebrook, K, Jafariyazani, M, Kriek, M, Matthews, A, Morishita, T, Nanayakkara, T, Pierel, JDR, Acebrón, A, Bergamini, P, Cha, S, Diego, JM, Foo, N, Frye, B, Fudamoto, Y, Jee, MJ, Kamieneski, PS, Koekemoer, AM, Meena, AK, Nishida, S, Oguri, M, Rosati, P & Zitrin, A 2026, 'A stellar dynamical mass measurement of an inactive black hole at redshift 2', Science, vol. 392, no. 6802, pp. 1065-1068. https://doi.org/10.1126/science.adx5816

TY - JOUR

T1 - A stellar dynamical mass measurement of an inactive black hole at redshift 2

AU - Newman, Andrew B.

AU - Gu, Meng

AU - Belli, Sirio

AU - Ellis, Richard S.

AU - Gangula, Sai

AU - Greene, Jenny E.

AU - Walsh, Jonelle L.

AU - Suyu, Sherry H.

AU - Ertl, Sebastian

AU - Caminha, Gabriel

AU - Granata, Giovanni

AU - Grillo, Claudio

AU - Schuldt, Stefan

AU - Barone, Tania M.

AU - Bird, Simeon

AU - Glazebrook, Karl

AU - Jafariyazani, Marziye

AU - Kriek, Mariska

AU - Matthews, Allison

AU - Morishita, Takahiro

AU - Nanayakkara, Themiya

AU - Pierel, Justin D.R.

AU - Acebrón, Ana

AU - Bergamini, Pietro

AU - Cha, Sangjun

AU - Diego, Jose M.

AU - Foo, Nicholas

AU - Frye, Brenda

AU - Fudamoto, Yoshinobu

AU - Jee, M. James

AU - Kamieneski, Patrick S.

AU - Koekemoer, Anton M.

AU - Meena, Asish K.

AU - Nishida, Shun

AU - Oguri, Masamune

AU - Rosati, Piero

AU - Zitrin, Adi

PY - 2026/6/4

Y1 - 2026/6/4

N2 - Supermassive black holes and their host galaxies grow together over time, producing correlations between the black hole mass and various galaxy properties. Determining the evolution of these correlations requires precise measurements of the masses of distant black holes. We observed the gravitationally lensed quiescent galaxy MRG-M0138 at redshift 1.95 using James Webb Space Telescope integral field spectroscopy to spatially resolve the kinematics of stars within the black hole's sphere of influence. By using a foreground lens model and fitting stellar dynamical models, we determined the mass of its inactive black hole to be M∙ = 6.0+−2.11.7 × 109 solar masses. Comparing this measurement to local galaxies, we found that M∙ is higher than expected given the galaxy's bulge mass but consistent with the correlation of M∙ with stellar velocity dispersion.

AB - Supermassive black holes and their host galaxies grow together over time, producing correlations between the black hole mass and various galaxy properties. Determining the evolution of these correlations requires precise measurements of the masses of distant black holes. We observed the gravitationally lensed quiescent galaxy MRG-M0138 at redshift 1.95 using James Webb Space Telescope integral field spectroscopy to spatially resolve the kinematics of stars within the black hole's sphere of influence. By using a foreground lens model and fitting stellar dynamical models, we determined the mass of its inactive black hole to be M∙ = 6.0+−2.11.7 × 109 solar masses. Comparing this measurement to local galaxies, we found that M∙ is higher than expected given the galaxy's bulge mass but consistent with the correlation of M∙ with stellar velocity dispersion.

UR - https://www.scopus.com/pages/publications/105041418680

UR - https://www.scopus.com/pages/publications/105041418680#tab=citedBy

U2 - 10.1126/science.adx5816

DO - 10.1126/science.adx5816

M3 - Article

C2 - 42241542

AN - SCOPUS:105041418680

SN - 0036-8075

VL - 392

SP - 1065

EP - 1068

JO - Science

JF - Science

IS - 6802

ER -

A stellar dynamical mass measurement of an inactive black hole at redshift 2

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