Reflections of Active Galactic Nucleus Outbursts in the Gaseous Atmosphere of M87

By W. Forman, P. Nulsen, S. Heinz, F. Owen, J. Eilek, A. Vikhlinin, M. Markevitch, R. Kraft, E. Churazov, C. Jones. 2003

222 citations recorded by the source corpus.

We combined deep Chandra, ROSAT HRI, and XMM-Newton observations of M87 to study the impact of active galactic nucleus (AGN) outbursts on its gaseous atmosphere. Many X-ray features appear to be a direct result of repetitive AGN outbursts. In particular, the X-ray cavities around the jet and counterjet are likely due to the expansion of radio plasma, while rings of enhanced emission at 14 and 17 kpc are probably shock fronts associated with outbursts that began 1-2 × 107 yr ago. The effects of these shocks are also seen in brightenings within the prominent X-ray arms. On larger scales, ~50 kpc from the nucleus, depressions in the surface brightness may be remnants of earlier outbursts. As suggested for the Perseus Cluster by Fabian and his coauthors, our analysis of the energetics of the M87 outbursts argues that shocks may be the most significant channel for AGN energy input into the cooling-flow atmospheres of galaxies, groups, and clusters. For M87, the mean power driving the shock outburst, 2.4 × 1043 ergs s-1, is 3 times greater than the radiative losses from the entire cooling flow. Thus, even in the absence of other energy inputs, outbursts every 3 × 107 yr are sufficient to quench the flow.

Subfields: Astronomy and Astrophysics, Nuclear and High Energy Physics

View Paper: https://www.semanticscholar.org/paper/8899c3be07ba6535c0127d4913baf5e2675b324f

How researchers see this paper

The researchers whose trusted networks rank it highest, strongest advocate first. Every researcher gets a different order.

In Astronomy and Astrophysics

1. A. C. Fabian
2. P. Best
3. T. Heckman
4. S. Allen
5. Volker Springel
6. Andrey V. Kravtsov
7. P. Nulsen
8. H. Ebeling

In Nuclear and High Energy Physics

1. P. Best
2. T. Heckman
3. A. C. Fabian
4. B. McNamara
5. A. Merloni
6. P. Nulsen
7. S. Heinz
8. S. Allen

Citations in the corpus

• The dark matter haloes of massive, relaxed galaxy clusters observed with Chandra (2006, background): “…2006; Allen et al. 1992) and/or interactions between central radio sources and the surrounding intracluster gas (e.g., Böhringer et al. 1993; Fabian et al. 2000, 2003, 2006; Birzan et al. 2004; Dunn & Fabian 2004; Forman et al. 2005; Dunn et al. 2005; Rafferty et al. 2006; Allen et al. 2006).”
• Improved constraints on dark energy from Chandra X-ray observations of the largest relaxed galaxy clusters (2007, background): “…radio sources and surrounding gas (e.g. Böhringer et al. 1993; Fabian et al. 2000, 2003a, 2005, 2006; Birzan et al. 2004; Dunn & Fabian 2004; Forman et al. 2005; Dunn, Fabian & Taylor 2005; Allen et 3 Note that the outermost pressure, at the limit of the X-ray surface brightness profile,…”
• Filaments, Bubbles, and Weak Shocks in the Gaseous Atmosphere of M87 (2006, methodology): “The minimum energy required to inflate the bud is 1055 ergs for a spherical cavity (Forman et al. 2005).”
• INTRACLUSTER MEDIUM ENTROPY PROFILES FOR A CHANDRA ARCHIVAL SAMPLE OF GALAXY CLUSTERS (2009, background): “…doubt as evidenced by the prevalence of ICM bubbles (e.g., Bı̂rzan et al. 2004; Dunn & Fabian 2008), the possible presence of sound waves (Fabian et al. 2003; Sanders & Fabian 2008), and large-scale shocks associated with AGN outbursts (Forman et al. 2005; McNamara et al. 2005; Nulsen et al. 2005).”
• Heating Hot Atmospheres with Active Galactic Nuclei (2007, background): “Cavity systems are often surrounded by belts (Smith et al. 2002), arms (Young et al. 2002; Forman et al. 2005, 2007), filaments, sheets (Fabian et al. 2006), and fragile tendrils of gas maintained against thermal evaporation, perhaps, by magnetic fields threaded along their lengths (Nipoti & Binney…”
• X-ray spectroscopy of galaxy clusters: studying astrophysical processes in the largest celestial laboratories (2009, background): “These features are identified as shock waves in Forman et al. (2005)and Forman et al. (2007).”
• The relation between accretion rate and jet power in X-ray luminous elliptical galaxies (2006, background): “…have shown that the black holes at the centres of galaxies, groups and clusters interact strongly with their environments, blowing clear cavities or ‘bubbles’ in the surrounding X-ray emitting gas (e.g. Böhringer et al. 1993; Fabian et al. 2000, 2003, 2005; Birzan et al. 2004; Forman et al. 2005).”
• On the prevalence of radio‐loud active galactic nuclei in brightest cluster galaxies: implications for AGN heating of cooling flows (2006, background): “Very deep Chandra observations of the Perseus and Virgo clusters (Fabian et al. 2003; Forman et al. 2005; Fabian et al. 2006; Forman et al. 2006) have revealed the presence of approximately spherical weak shock waves in these clusters, extending out to several tens of kpc radius.”
• Radiative efficiency, variability and Bondi accretion on to massive black holes: the transition from radio AGN to quasars in brightest cluster galaxies (2012, background): “Fabian et al. 2003, 2006; Forman et al. 2005).”
• Mechanical feedback from active galactic nuclei in galaxies, groups and clusters (2012, background): “However, the typical division between internal energy in the lobes and mechanical work done on the ICM has yet to be assessed (estimates exist for some cases, e.g., Forman et al 2005, Nulsen et al 2005, Randall et al 2011).”
• Measuring the kinetic power of active galactic nuclei in the radio mode (2007, background): “Specifically for the case of radio galaxies, various indirect pieces of evidence of intermittency have been presented, such as the ripples and shock waves detected in the X-ray emitting atmosphere of M87 (Forman et al. 2005), or the number vs. size counts of small radio galaxies (Reynolds & Begelman”
• STRUCTURE AND FORMATION OF ELLIPTICAL AND SPHEROIDAL GALAXIES (2008, background): “Examples include the Perseus cluster (Böhringer et al. 1993; Fabian et al. 2000, 2003, 2006, 2008; Sanders & Fabian 2007); Hydra A (McNamara et al. 2000); Abell 2052 (Blanton, Sarazin, & McNamara 2003); M 87 (Forman et al. 2005); and MS0735.”
• Cosmological Parameters from Observations of Galaxy Clusters (2011, background): “…not be applied robustly to systems undergoing major merger events, nor to regions of otherwise relaxed clusters where these assumptions break down, e.g. in their central regions where strong AGN feedback effects are commonly observed (Fabian et al. 2003; Forman et al. 2005; McNamara & Nulsen 2007).”