2025ApJ...991..205D

We measure the thermal Sunyaev-Zel'dovich effect in the circumgalactic medium (CGM) of ≈2.5 million M₂₀₀ = 10^12–14M_⊙ WISE × DESI galaxies out to z = 1.2. We split the sample into quiescent (0.7 million) and star-forming (1.8 million) galaxies, exploring the relation between the thermal pressure of the CGM and star formation for the first time. We develop and implement a novel probabilistic approach to cross-correlate the galaxy catalog with the Atacama Cosmology Telescope + Planck data by taking into account the uncertainties in redshift, mass, and star formation rate. The signal-to-noise ratio of the stacked Compton-y value in the CGM varies from 4.9σ to 18.5σ, depending on the sample size and the CGM signal strength within the relevant mass bin. We detect the CGM signal down to M₂₀₀ = 10^12.3M_⊙, and provide a stringent upper limit at M₂₀₀ < 10^12.3M_⊙. The data fit well with the standard generalized Navarro-Frenk-White profile of thermal pressure and do not require a flatter or steeper profile. This suggests a significant impact of cooling and the absence of dominant feedback. In galaxies with M₂₀₀ ≈ 10^12.3–12.8M_⊙ halos, the volume-filling CGM is likely the largest contributor to the galactic baryons at their virial temperatures of ∼10^6–6.4 K. For M₂₀₀ > 10^12.8 ! M_⊙ halos, the most massive phase of the CGM is likely at a subvirial temperature of ≳10⁶ K. The thermal energy of the CGM of quiescent galaxies follows the self-similar relation with mass, but the star-forming galaxies deviate from this relation. This indicates that the impact of nongravitational factors varies among halos of different degrees of star-forming activity.