ADVECTIVELY DOMINATED FLOWS IN THE CORES OF GIANT ELLIPTIC GALAXIES -APPLICATION TO M60 (NGC-4649)

It has been suggested that the final stages of accretion in present-da y giant elliptical salaries occur in an advection-dominated mode. The poor radiative efficiency of this accretion solution accounts for the fact that massive black holes, which are believed to reside in the cen tres of these galaxies, do not have the luminosities expected if accre tion from the hot interstellar medium occurs at the Bondi rate. We dis cuss the advection-dominated solution for the nucleus of M60 (NGC 4649 ), and show that accretion at the Bondi rate is consistent with the co re flux from radio to X-ray. This solution allows for a black hole mas s of similar to 10(9) M. as required by independent arguments. The suc cessful application of this model to M60, and previously to the well-k nown nucleus of M87, suggests that accretion of hot gas in an elliptic al galaxy creates the ideal circumstances for advection-dominated accr etion flows to operate.