Advectively dominated flows in the cores of giant elliptical galaxies: application to M60 (NGC 4649)

Abstract

It has been suggested that the final stages of accretion in present--day giant elliptical galaxies occur in an advection-dominated mode. The poor radiative efficiency of this accretion solution accounts for the fact that massive black holes, which are believed to reside in the centres of these galaxies, do not have the luminosities expected if accretion from the hot interstellar medium occurs at the Bondi rate. We discuss the advection-dominated solution for the nucleus of M60 (NGC 4649) and show that accretion at the Bondi rate is consistent with the core flux from radio to X-ray. This solution allows for a black hole mass of ~ 10^9 solar masses as required by independent arguments. The successful application of this model to both M60, and previously to the well known nucleus of M87, suggests that accretion of hot gas in an elliptical galaxy creates the ideal circumstances for advection-dominated accretion flows to operate.

MNRAS in press. 5 pages, 4 figures in MNRAS LaTex style

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