The Circum-Galactic Medium of MASsive Spirals II: Probing the Nature of Hot Gaseous Halo around the Most Massive Isolated Spiral Galaxies

TL;DR

This study analyzes X-ray data of six massive spiral galaxies, revealing their hot gaseous halos are extensive, hydrostatic, and similar in properties to elliptical galaxies, with implications for galaxy evolution and feedback processes.

Contribution

First detailed X-ray analysis of hot gaseous halos around the most massive isolated spiral galaxies, demonstrating their hydrostatic nature and comparing them with elliptical galaxy halos.

Findings

Hot gas extends 30-100 kpc from galaxy centers.

Halo hot gas temperature is comparable to virial temperature.

Hot gas cooling is inefficient, indicating hydrostatic equilibrium.

Abstract

We present the analysis of the XMM-Newton data of the Circum-Galactic Medium of MASsive Spirals (CGM-MASS) sample of six extremely massive spiral galaxies in the local Universe. All the CGM-MASS galaxies have diffuse X-ray emission from hot gas detected above the background extending $\sim(30-100)\rm~kpc$ from the galactic center. This doubles the existing detection of such extended hot CGM around massive spiral galaxies. The radial soft X-ray intensity profile of hot gas can be fitted with a $\beta$-function with the slope typically in the range of $\beta=0.35-0.55$. This range, as well as those $\beta$ values measured for other massive spiral galaxies, including the Milky Way (MW), are in general consistent with X-ray luminous elliptical galaxies of similar hot gas luminosity and temperature, and with those predicted from a hydrostatic isothermal gaseous halo. Hot gas in such massive spiral galaxy tends to have temperature comparable to its virial value, indicating the importance of gravitational heating. This is in contrast to lower mass galaxies where hot gas temperature tends to be systematically higher than the virial one. The ratio of the radiative cooling to free fall timescales of hot gas is much larger than the critical value of $\sim10$ throughout the entire halos of all the CGM-MASS galaxies, indicating the inefficiency of gas cooling and precipitation in the CGM. The hot CGM in these massive spiral galaxies is thus most likely in a hydrostatic state, with the feedback material mixed with the CGM, instead of escaping out of the halo or falling back to the disk. We also homogenize and compare the halo X-ray luminosity measured for the CGM-MASS galaxies and other galaxy samples and discuss the "missing" galactic feedback detected in these massive spiral galaxies.