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Description
Using adaptive optics assisted Gemini/NIFS data, I study the present and past gas accretion in the central 3" of the M32 nucleus. From changes in the spectral slope and CO line depths near the center, I find evidence for unresolved dust emission resulting from black hole (BH) accretion. With a luminosity of ~2x10^38^erg/s, this dust emission appears to be the most luminous tracer of current BH accretion, 2 orders of magnitude more luminous than previously detected X-ray emission. These observations suggest that using high-resolution infrared data to search for dust emission may be an effective way to detect other nearby, low-luminosity BHs, such as those in globular clusters. I also examine the fossil evidence of gas accretion contained in the kinematics of the stars in the nucleus. The higher order moments (h3 and h4) of the line-of-sight velocity distribution show patterns that are remarkably similar to those seen on larger scales in elliptical galaxies and in gas-rich merger simulations. The kinematics suggests the presence of two components in the M32 nucleus, a dominant disk overlying a pressure supported component.
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