Heating Hot Atmospheres with Active Galactic Nuclei

By B. McNamara, P. Nulsen. 2007

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High resolution X-ray spectroscopy of the hot gas in galaxy clusters has shown that the gas is not cooling to low temperatures at the predicted rates of hundreds to thousands of solar masses per year. X-ray images have revealed giant cavities and shock fronts in the hot gas that provide a direct and relatively reliable means of measuring the energy injected into hot atmospheres by active galactic nuclei (AGN). Average radio jet powers are near those required to offset radiative losses and to suppress cooling in isolated giant elliptical galaxies, and in larger systems up to the richest galaxy clusters. This coincidence suggests that heating and cooling are coupled by feedback, which suppresses star formation and the growth of luminous galaxies. How jet energy is converted to heat and the degree to which other heating mechanisms are contributing, e.g., thermal conduction, are not well understood. Outburst energies require substantial late growth of supermassive black holes. Unless all of the ∼10 62 erg required to suppress star formation is deposited in the cooling regions of clusters, AGN outbursts must alter large-scale properties of the intracluster medium.

Subfields: Astronomy and Astrophysics, Instrumentation

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Citations in the corpus

AGN wind scaling relations and the co-evolution of black holes and galaxies (2017, methodology): “The power to excavate cavities in the ICM is proportional to the X-ray luminosity, and the power in cavities is proportional to the AGN radio luminosity (see McNamara & Nulsen 2007; Cattaneo et al. 2009; Fabian 2012, for reviews).”
Formation of Galaxy Clusters (2012, background): “Different lines of evidence indicate that energy input from the AGN in the central cluster galaxies can provide most of the energy required to offset cooling (see McNamara & Nulsen 2007, for a comprehensive review).”
simba: Cosmological simulations with black hole growth and feedback (2019, background): “…et al. 2017a); and a “jet mode” at low Eddington ratios, where AGN mostly drive hot gas in collimated jets at high velocities (of order ∼ 104 km s−1) that in some circumstances are seen to inflate super-virial temperature bubbles in surrounding hot gas (e.g. McNamara & Nulsen 2007; Fabian 2012).”
Physical Models of Galaxy Formation in a Cosmological Framework (2014, background): “In addition, highly relativistic giant radio jets may heat the intra-cluster medium through bubbles, weak shocks, and sound waves (Fabian 2012, McNamara & Nulsen 2007).”
FEEDBACK IN LUMINOUS OBSCURED QUASARS (2011, background): “For instance, jet activity in massive elliptical galaxies and brightest cluster galaxies deposits energy into the hot gas envelope (see review in McNamara & Nulsen 2007), although the efficiency of coupling the accretion energy to the gas remains uncertain (e.g., Bîrzan et al. 2004; Best et al.…”
Neutral hydrogen in galaxy haloes at the peak of the cosmic star formation history (2014, background): “…in a larger range of halos (Mh & 1012 M at z = 2) than jets from radio-loud AGN, which are observationally inferred to prevent the development of strong cooling flows in galaxy clusters (e.g., McNamara & Nulsen 2007). c© 0000 RAS, MNRAS 000, 000–000 Neutral hydrogen in z = 2 − 4 galaxy halos 15”
The correlation of star formation quenching with internal galaxy properties and environment (2008, background): “However, these objects are associated with the efficient production of radio jets, which may be able to couple with and heat the hot gas in the galaxy’s halo (e.g. McNamara & Nulsen 2007).”
Raining on black holes and massive galaxies: the top-down multiphase condensation model (2016, background): “Mechanical AGN feedback, in conjunction with stellar heating, mergers and cosmic rays (e.g. Brighenti & Mathews 2003; McNamara & Nulsen 2007; Gaspari et al. 2011a,b), appears to maintain the hot, X-ray emitting halo of galaxies, groups and clusters in global thermal quasi-equilibrium for several…”
AGN heating and ICM cooling in the HIFLUGCS sample of galaxy clusters (2008, background): “…(WCC) clusters with 1 Gyr tcool 7.7 Gyr (the upper limit of 7.7 Gyr is the usually assumed value for the cooling time corresponding to z = 1, signifying the lookback time since the last major heating event, see McNamara & Nulsen 2007) and (3) non-cool-core (NCC) clusters with tcool > 7.7 Gyr.”
GIANT GAMMA-RAY BUBBLES FROM FERMI-LAT: ACTIVE GALACTIC NUCLEUS ACTIVITY OR BIPOLAR GALACTIC WIND? (2010, background): “In other galaxies, powerful AGN radio jets interacting strongly with the hot gas have been observed (McNamara & Nulsen 2007).”
Stellar Mass—Halo Mass Relation and Star Formation Efficiency in High-Mass Halos (2014, background): “…(IKI), Profsoyuznaya 84 / 32, Moscow, Russia In particular, it is commonly acknowledged that the AGN feedback plays a key role in shaping properties of baryons in massive halos and in setting their star formation efficiency (e.g., Silk & Rees 1998, and McNamara & Nulsen 2007 for a recent review).”
The Blast Wave Model for AGN Feedback: Effects on AGN Obscuration (2008, background): “On even larger scales of some 102 kpc, the presence of AGN-induced outflows is revealed by X-ray observations of the intracluster medium (see McNamara & Nulsen 2007 for a review) showing cavities and expanding shocks with Mach numbers ranging from 1.5 to 8.”
What drives the growth of black holes (2011, background): “…the literature for every component of every issue (see Brandt & Hasinger 2005; Veilleux et al. 2005; Remillard & McClintock 2006; Done et al. 2007; McNamara & Nulsen 2007; Ho 2008; Shankar 2009; Volonteri 2010; Brandt & Alexander 2010 for some recent indepth 2The presentations can be found at the…”
THE FERMI BUBBLES. I. POSSIBLE EVIDENCE FOR RECENT AGN JET ACTIVITY IN THE GALAXY (2011, methodology): “These non-thermal regions are almost certainly produced by AGN jets, which are often not detectable because of the short time when they are active (McNamara & Nulsen 2007).”
Observations of feedback from radio-quiet quasars - I. Extents and morphologies of ionized gas nebulae (2013, background): “For instance, radio jet activity in massive elliptical galaxies and brightest cluster galaxies deposits energy into the hot gas envelope of the cluster (McNamara & Nulsen 2007; Randall et al. 2011).”
The MCXC: a meta-catalogue of x-ray detected clusters of galaxies (2010, background): “…assembly process Send offprint requests to: R. Piffaretti, e-mail: rocco.piffaretti@cea.fr through merging (e.g., Markevitch & Vikhlinin 2007) and the physical mechanisms associated with feedback and its impact on structure formation (e.g., McNamara & Nulsen 2007, and references therein).”