A Possible Detection of M31* with Chandra

Abstract

Two independent sets of Chandra and HST images of the nuclear region of M31 allow registration of X-ray and optical images to 0.1''. This registration shows that none of the bright (10^{37} erg/s) X-ray sources near the nucleus is coincident with the central super-massive black hole, M31*. A 50ks Chandra HRC image shows 2.5 sigma evidence for a faint (3 x 10^{35} erg/s), apparently resolved source which is consistent with the position of the M31*. The Bondi radius of M31* is 0.9'', making it one of the few super-massive black holes with a resolvable accretion flow. This large radius and the previous detections of diffuse, X-ray emitting gas in the nuclear region make M31* one of the most secure cases for a radiatively inefficient accretion flow and place some of the most severe constraints on the radiative processes in such a flow.

14 pages, 5 figures, submitted to ApJ

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Cited by in corpus (19)

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• Radiatively Inefficient Accretion in Nearby Galaxies
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• Revisiting the "Fundamental Plane" of Black Hole Activity at Extremely Low Luminosities
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• A census of X-ray nuclear activity in nearby galaxies
• On the origin of X-ray emission in some FR Is: ADAF or jet?
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• Astrophysics in 2006
• Origin of the X-ray Emission in the Nuclei of FR Is