A Possible Chandra Detection of M31*

Garcia, M. R.; Primini, F. A.; Williams, B.; Yuan, F.
Bibliographical reference

American Astronomical Society Meeting 204, #80.13; Bulletin of the American Astronomical Society, Vol. 36, p.983

Advertised on:
5
2004
Number of authors
4
IAC number of authors
0
Citations
0
Refereed citations
0
Description
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 ˜ 1037erg s-1 X-ray sources near the nucleus is actually coincident with the central super-massive black hole, M31*. A 50ks Chandra HRC image shows ˜ 2.5σ evidence for a faint ( ˜ 3 × 1035erg s-1) apparently resolved source which is consistent with the position of the M31*. The Bondi radius of M31* is 0.9'', making it one of the few super-massive 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. This work supported by NASA contracts NAS8-03060, NAS8-39073 and grant NAG5-10889.