Accretion Rates onto Massive Black Holes in Four Quiescent Elliptical Galaxies

Astrophys J. 2000 Apr 20;533(2):L111-L114. doi: 10.1086/312618.

Abstract

Four quiescent elliptical galaxies were imaged with the NRAO VLA at 8.5 GHz. Within the context of canonical advection-dominated accretion flows (ADAFs), these VLA images plus published black hole masses constrain the accretion rates to be less than 1.6x10-4, less than 3.6x10-4, </=7.8x10-4, and </=7.4x10-4 of the Eddington rates. These ADAF accretion rates derived at 8.5 GHz have important implications for the levels of soft and hard X-rays expected from these quiescent galaxies.