Studying the [O III]λ5007 Å emission-line width in a sample of ∼ 80 local active galaxies: a surrogate for σ* ?

For a sample of similar to 80 local (0.02 <= z <= 0.1) Seyfert-1 galaxies with high-quality long-slit Keck spectra and spatially resolved stellar-velocity dispersion (sigma(*)) measurements, we study the profile of the [O III]lambda 5007 angstrom emission line to test the validity of using its width as a surrogate for sigma(*). Such an approach has often been used in the literature, since it is difficult to measure sigma(*) for type-1 active galactic nuclei (AGNs) due to the AGN continuum outshining the stellarabsorption lines. Fitting the [O III] line with a single Gaussian or Gauss-Hermite polynomials overestimates sigma(*) by 50-100 per cent. When line asymmetries from non-gravitational gas motion are excluded in a double Gaussian fit, the average ratio between the core [OIII] width ((sigma)[O III], D) and sigma(*) is similar to 1, but with individual data points off by up to a factor of two. The resulting black-hole-mass-(sigma)[O III], D relation scatters around that of quiescent galaxies and reverberation-mapped AGNs. However, a direct comparison between sigma(*) and (sigma)[O III], D shows no close correlation, only that both quantities have the same range, average, and standard deviation, probably because they feel the same gravitational potential. The large scatter is likely due to the fact that line profiles are a luminosity-weighted average, dependent on the light distribution and underlying kinematic field. Within the range probed by our sample (80-260 km s(-1)), our results strongly caution against the use of [O III] width as a surrogate for sigma(*) on an individual basis. Even though our sample consists of radio-quiet AGNs, FIRST radio-detected objects have, on average, a similar to 10 per cent larger [O III] core width.