We present a study of the dark and luminous matter in the isolated elliptical
galaxy NGC720, based on deep X-ray observations made with Chandra and Suzaku.
The gas is reliably measured to ~R2500, allowing us to place good constraints
on the enclosed mass and baryon fraction (fb) within this radius
(M2500=1.6e12+/-0.2e12 Msun, fb(2500)=0.10+/-0.01; systematic errors are
<~20%). The data indicate that the hot gas is close to hydrostatic, which is
supported by good agreement with a kinematical analysis of the dwarf satellite
galaxies. We confirm a dark matter (DM) halo at ~20-sigma. Assuming an NFW DM
profile, our physical model for the gas distribution enables us to obtain
meaningful constraints at scales larger than R2500, revealing that most of the
baryons are in the hot gas. We find that fb within Rvir is consistent with the
Cosmological value, confirming theoretical predictions that a ~Milky Way-mass
(Mvir=3.1e12+/-0.4e12 Msun) galaxy can sustain a massive, quasi-hydrostatic gas
halo. While fb is higher than the cold baryon fraction typically measured in
similar-mass spiral galaxies, both the gas fraction (fg) and fb in NGC720 are
consistent with an extrapolation of the trends with mass seen in massive galaxy
groups and clusters. After correcting for fg, the entropy profile is close to
the self-similar prediction of gravitational structure formation simulations,
as observed in galaxy clusters. Finally, we find a strong heavy metal abundance
gradient in the ISM similar to those observed in massive galaxy groups.Comment: 23 pages, 13 figures, 4 tables. Accepted for publication in the
Astrophysical Journal. Minor modifications to match accepted version.
Conclusions unchange
