An XMM-Newton and Chandra investigation of the nuclear accretion in the sombrero galaxy (NGC 4594)

We present an analysis of the XMM-Newton and Chandra ACIS-S observations of the LINER nucleus of the Sombrero galaxy, and we discuss possible explanations for its very sub-Eddington luminosity by complementing the X-ray results with high angular resolution observations in other bands. The X-ray investigation shows a hard (Γ = 1.89) and moderately absorbed N H = 1.8 × 1021 cm2) nuclear source of 1. 5 × 1040 ergs s-1 in the 2-10 keV band, surrounded by hot gas at a temperature of ∼0.6 keV. The bolometric nuclear luminosity is at least ∼200 times lower than expected if mass accreted on the supermassive black hole, which Hubble Space Telescope shows to reside at the center of this galaxy, at the rate predicted by the spherical and adiabatic Bondi accretion theory and with the high radiative efficiency of a standard accretion disk. The low luminosity, coupled to the observed absence of Fe K emission in the nuclear spectrum, indicates that such a disk is not present. This nucleus also differs from bright unobscured active galactic nuclei in the lack of high flux variability and prominent broad Hα emission. However, it is also too faint for the predictions of simple radiatively inefficient accretion taking place at the Bondi rate; it could instead be too radio bright for radiatively inefficient accretion that includes strong mass outflows or convection. This discrepancy could be solved by the possible presence of nuclear radio jets. An alternative explanation of the low luminosity, in place of radiative inefficiency, could be unsteady accretion.