Gas and Stellar kinematics of late type spiral NGC 2976

We present imaging and spectroscopy from ground and space-based observations of NGC 2976. This Sc galaxy has a small bulge and close proximity (only 3.6 Mpc) making it ideal for our search for small nuclear black holes (BH). Pre-existing information do not show it to have an AGN: {\it ROSAT} X-ray data do not show a nuclear point source, and it emits no radio jets. We confirm that N2976 has an HII type nuclear spectrum, consistent with intense star formation. {\it Keck} spectra reveal a stellar velocity dispersion of only $\sigma = 18-20$ km s$^{-1}$. The gas velocity dispersion is also about 20 km s$^{-1}$. {\it HST} imaging reveals an unusual nuclear double peak whose dominance flips going from the medium band (F547M) image to the narrow band (H$\alpha$) image. The emission line spectra do not show a regular rotation curve, despite an almost disk-like appearance of the extended H$\alpha$ emission. The M$_{BH} - \sigma$ relation predicts a BH mass of only 5$\times 10^4 M_{\odot}$. The virial theorem applied to the central gas blob gives a considerably larger upper limit ($\sim 10^6 M_{\odot}$). This appears to be another ``nucleus in formation", and may not have a supermassive BH at all, like M33.