Related papers: The `quiescent' black hole in M87
It has been suggested that the final stages of accretion in present--day giant elliptical galaxies occur in an advection-dominated mode. The poor radiative efficiency of this accretion solution accounts for the fact that massive black…
Chandra X-ray observations of the giant elliptical galaxy M87 resolve the thermal state of the hot interstellar medium into the accretion (Bondi) radius of its central 3 10^9 Msun black hole. We measure the X-ray gas temperature and density…
Most large elliptical galaxies should now host a massive black hole leftover from an earlier quasar phase. Such galaxies also have an extensive hot gaseous halo. Here we consider why the nuclei of elliptical galaxies are not luminous…
Supermassive black holes in giant elliptical galaxies are remarkably faint given their expected accretion rates. This motivates models of radiatively inefficient accretion, due to either ion-electron thermal decoupling, generation of…
A supermassive black hole in the nucleus of an elliptical galaxy at the centre of a cool-core group or cluster of galaxies is immersed in hot gas. Bondi accretion should occur at a rate determined by the properties of the gas at the Bondi…
The luminosities of the centers of nearby elliptical galaxies are very low compared to models of thin disc accretion to their black holes at the Bondi rate, typically a few hundredths to a few tenths of a solar mass per year. This has…
In order to find an explanation for the radiative quiescence of supermassive black holes in the local Universe, for a sample of nearby galaxies the most accurate estimates are collected for the mass of a central black hole M_BH, the nuclear…
Our X-ray study of the nuclear activity in a new sample of six quiescent early-type galaxies, and in a larger sample from the literature, confirmed (Soria et al., Paper I) that the Bondi accretion rate of diffuse hot gas is not a good…
The classical Bondi model is adopted to study accretion onto the finite luminous region around the central massive black hole (MBH) in an elliptical galaxy. Unlike Bondi (1952), we define the boundary conditions at a certain finite radius…
Observations of many dim galactic nuclei in local universe give good estimation of gas density and temperature at Bondi radius. If we assume the black hole accretes at Bondi accretion rate and radiates at efficiency of low-luminosity hot…
We use new central stellar velocity dispersions and nuclear X-ray and Halpha luminosities for the Palomar survey of nearby galaxies to investigate the distribution of nuclear bolometric luminosities and Eddington ratios for their central…
We use a comprehensive database of black hole masses and nuclear luminosities to investigate the relationship between radio emission and black hole mass. Our sample covers a wide range of nuclear activity, from nearby inactive nuclei to…
The Bondi accretion rate of black holes in our and nearby galaxies Messier 87, NGC 3115, NGC 1600, and Cygnus A have been determined or constrained using Chandra or other observations. It, however, remains unknown how much mass from the…
We have studied the nuclear activity in a sample of six quiescent early-type galaxies, with new Chandra data and archival HST optical images. Their nuclear sources have X-ray luminosities ~ 10^{38} - 10^{39} erg/s (L_X/L_Edd ~ 10^{-8} -…
The nearby radio galaxy M87 is a prime target for studying black hole accretion and jet formation^{1,2}. Event Horizon Telescope observations of M87 in 2017, at a wavelength of 1.3 mm, revealed a ring-like structure, which was interpreted…
Black holes with masses M_BH~10^{8.5} M_Sun dominate the accretion history of the Universe. These black hole masses are typical of those found in radio-selected galaxies today, suggesting that the giant elliptical hosts of low redshift…
Chandra observations of low-luminosity supermassive black holes in nearby elliptical galaxies provide tight limits on both their nuclear luminosities and on their Bondi accretion rates. We examine Chandra constraints on NGC 6166, the…
The accretion of hot slowly rotating gas onto a supermassive black hole is considered. Rotation velocities at the Bondi radius r_B are small in comparison with speed of sound c_s. The centrifugal barrier at a depth r_c = l^2/G M_BH << r_B…
We present evidence for the presence of a transition in the accretion properties of radio-loud sources. For a sample of radio galaxies and radio-loud quasars, selected based on their extended radio properties, the accretion rate is…
Only a small fraction of local galaxies harbor an accreting black hole, classified as an active galactic nucleus (AGN). However, many stellar systems are plausibly expected to host black holes, from globular clusters to nuclear star…