090017

It is a fundamental prediction from the LambdaCDM cosmology that massive galaxies have an extended X-ray emitting corona produced by the accreted gas from the intergalactic space. Massive isolated spirals provide the best place to search for this accreted hot CGM and the missing baryons contained in it. Previous X-ray observations target on massive spirals either too distant or too nearby (M31). We propose mosaic XMM observations covering r and amp amp amp lt 350kpc from the Sombrero the most massive spiral at d and amp amp amp lt 30Mpc. We will search for signatures of the accretion atmosphere via the radial distributions of the X-ray intensity as well as the density temperature thermal pressure radiative cooling timescale and metallicity of the hot gas. We will also quantify the baryon budget of this extended hot CGM. [truncated! Please see actual data for full text]