The hot circumgalactic medium in the eROSITA All-Sky Survey I. X-ray surface brightness profiles (2401.17308v3)

Abstract: The circumgalactic medium (CGM) provides the material needed for galaxy formation and influences galaxy evolution. The hot ($T>10^6K$) CGM is poorly detected around galaxies with stellar masses ($M_$) lower than $3\times10^{11}M_\odot$ due to the low surface brightness. We used the X-ray data from the first four SRG/eROSITA All-Sky Surveys (eRASS:4). Based on the SDSS spectroscopic survey and halo-based group finder algorithm, we selected central galaxies with spectroscopic redshifts of $z_{\rm spec}<0.2$ and stellar masses of $10.0<\log(M_/M_\odot)<11.5$ (85,222 galaxies) -- or halo masses of $11.5<\log(M_{\rm 200m}/M_\odot)<14.0$ (125,512 galaxies). By stacking the X-ray emission around galaxies, masking the detected X-ray point sources and carefully modeling the X-ray emission from the unresolved active galactic nuclei (AGN) and X-ray binaries (XRB), we obtain the X-ray emission from the hot CGM. We detected the X-ray emission around MW-mass and more massive central galaxies extending up to the virial radius ($R_{\rm vir}$). We used a $\beta$ model to describe the X-ray surface brightness profile and found $\beta =0.43^{+0.10}{-0.06}\,(0.37^{+0.04}{-0.02})$ for MW-mass (M31-mass) galaxies.We estimated the baryon budget of the hot CGM and obtained a value that is lower than the prediction of $\Lambda$CDM cosmology, indicating significant gas depletion in these halos. We extrapolated the hot CGM profile measured within $R_{\rm vir}$ to larger radii and found that within $\approx 3 R_{\rm vir}$, the baryon budget is close to the $\Lambda$CDM cosmology prediction. Our results set a firm footing for the presence of the hot CGM around such galaxies. These measurements constitute a new benchmark for galaxy evolution models and possible implementations of feedback processes therein.