FOS Spectroscopy of NGC 1316 (fornax A)

The elliptical galaxy NGC 1316, also known as Fornax A, is thethird brightest radio source in the sky. It has twin jets onopposite sides of the nucleus, but no opaque radio core.Ground based spectra of the core hint at a rising mass-to-light ratio with increasing resolution and allow thepossibility of a 3 * 10^9 M_SUN dark object. Stellarabsorption lines are quite strong and easily measured for thepurpose of velocity dispersion measurements, but only the HSThas the spatial resolution required to focus in on scaleswhere stars would no longer dominate the mass. FOCmeasurements reveal a central bright bright point source atLambda1750Angstrom which indicates that the center is free ofgas and dust. There is also no observable HAlpha observed inthe central 1". A spectrum of the inner 0arcs13 (10 pc) inradius, would allow a decisive measurement of the mass of thecentral engine to be made. The spectra will be analyzedusing the Fourier quotient method, a cross-correlation method,and a deconvolution method. Each method will determine a linewidth and evaluate deviations from a Gaussian line profile. Acomplete dynamical description of the core of this galaxy willthen be possible.