paper

COOLING FLOW MODELS OF THE X--RAY EMISSION AND TEMPERATURE PROFILES FOR A SAMPLE OF ELLIPTICAL GALAXIES

arXiv:astro-ph/9504002 · doi:10.1086/176204

Abstract

A simple spherically-symmetric, steady-state, cooling-flow description with gas loss (following Sarazin \& Ashe 1989), within galaxy models constrained by radially extended stellar dynamical data, is shown to provide generally reasonable fits to the existing data on X-ray emission profiles and temperatures for a set of bright elliptical galaxies in Virgo and Fornax. Three free parameters are needed to specify the model: the external mass flux, the external pressure, and a dimensionless factor, which regulates the mass deposition rate along the flow. Three different assumptions on the supernova rate have been considered. A moderate value for the supernova rate in elliptical galaxies is found to be preferred. Confining pressures of $p_{ext}\sim4\div15\times10^3\kelvin$ cm and significant accretion rates of external material, up to $4\msolar/\yr$, are suggested by our models. A possible correlation between and the iron abundance in the gas inside ellipticals is pointed out.

20 pages + 8 figures, uuencoded gzipped tar file containing latex text file and 7 .ps files; only change is that figures have been provided with labels. To appear in ApJ

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