We use cookies to ensure that we give you the best experience on our website. By continuing to browse this repository, you give consent for essential cookies to be used. You can read more about our Privacy and Cookie Policy.

Durham Research Online
You are in:

# X-ray scaling relations of early-type galaxies.

Babyk, Iu. V. and McNamara, B. R. and Nulsen, P. E. J. and Hogan, M. T. and Vantyghem, A. N. and Russell, H. R. and Pulido, F. A. and Edge, A. C. (2018) 'X-ray scaling relations of early-type galaxies.', Astrophysical journal., 857 (1). p. 32.

## Abstract

X-ray luminosity, temperature, gas mass, total mass, and their scaling relations are derived for 94 early-type galaxies (ETGs) using archival Chandra X-ray Observatory observations. Consistent with earlier studies, the scaling relations, L X ∝ T 4.5±0.2, M ∝ T 2.4±0.2, and L X ∝ M 2.8±0.3, are significantly steeper than expected from self-similarity. This steepening indicates that their atmospheres are heated above the level expected from gravitational infall alone. Energetic feedback from nuclear black holes and supernova explosions are likely heating agents. The tight L X –T correlation for low-luminosity systems (i.e., below 1040 erg s−1) are at variance with hydrodynamical simulations, which generally predict higher temperatures for low-luminosity galaxies. We also investigate the relationship between total mass and pressure, Y X = M g × T, finding $M\propto {Y}_{X}^{0.45\pm 0.04}$. We explore the gas mass to total mass fraction in ETGs and find a range of 0.1%–1.0%. We find no correlation between the gas-to-total mass fraction with temperature or total mass. Higher stellar velocity dispersions and higher metallicities are found in hotter, brighter, and more massive atmospheres. X-ray core radii derived from β-model fitting are used to characterize the degree of core and cuspiness of hot atmospheres.