X-ray Halos of Early-Type Galaxies with AGN Feedback and Accretion from a Circumgalactic Medium: models and observations

TL;DR

This study models the X-ray properties of hot gas halos in early-type galaxies, incorporating AGN feedback and circumgalactic medium accretion, and compares results with observations to understand gas dynamics and thermal structure.

Contribution

It introduces high-resolution hydrodynamical models including AGN feedback and circumgalactic accretion, successfully reproducing observed X-ray properties of early-type galaxy halos.

Findings

Model X-ray luminosities and temperatures match observations.

Surface brightness and temperature profiles qualitatively agree with real galaxies.

Accretion from circumgalactic medium is crucial for reproducing extended X-ray emission.

Abstract

The knowledge of the X-ray properties of the hot gas halos of early-type galaxies has significantly advanced in the past years, for large and homogeneously investigated samples. We compare these results with the X-ray properties of an exploratory set of gas evolution models in realistic early-type galaxies, produced with our high-resolution 2D hydrodynamical code MACER that includes AGN feedback and accretion from a circumgalactic medium. The model X-ray emission and absorption are integrated along the line of sight, to obtain maps of the surface brightness Sigma_X and temperature Tx. The X-ray diagnostics considered are the luminosity and average temperature for the whole galaxy (Lx and <Tx>) and within 5 optical effective radii (Lx5 and <Tx5>), and the circularized profiles Sigma_X(R) and Tx(R). The values for Lx, Lx5, <Tx>, and <Tx5> compare very well with those observed. The Sigma_X(R) and Tx(R) also present qualitative similarities with those of the representative galaxy NGC5129, and of ETGs with the most commonly observed shape for Tx(R): Sigma_X(R) matches the observed profile over many optical effective radii Re, and Tx(R) reproduces the characteristic bump that peaks at R=(1 - 3)Re. Inside the peak position, Tx(R) declines towards the center, but the explored models are systematically hotter by ~30%; possible explanations for this discrepancy are discussed. Interestingly, Sigma_X(R) and Tx(R) as large as observed outside of R~Re are reproduced only with significant accretion from a circumgalactic medium, highlighting its importance.