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 (~1037 ergs s-1) X-ray sources near the nucleus is coincident with the central supermassive black hole, M31*. A 50 ks Chandra HRC image shows 2.5 σ evidence for a faint (~1036 ergs s-1) discrete source that is consistent with the position of M31*. The Bondi radius of M31* is 0.9", making it one of the few supermassive 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.
- Publication:
-
The Astrophysical Journal
- Pub Date:
- October 2005
- DOI:
- 10.1086/432967
- arXiv:
- arXiv:astro-ph/0412350
- Bibcode:
- 2005ApJ...632.1042G
- Keywords:
-
- Accretion;
- Accretion Disks;
- Black Hole Physics;
- Galaxies: Individual: Messier Number: M31;
- Galaxies: Nuclei;
- Astrophysics
- E-Print:
- 14 pages, 5 figures, submitted to ApJ