OH Maser Sources Research Articles

Dust emissions and OH masers: evidence for tracing advanced stages of HMPOs

We conducted a study using the Green Bank Telescope to investigate the correlation between OH masers and mm emission in high mass star forming regions (HMSFRs) using archival data from the Bolocam Galactic Plane Survey (BGPS) at 1.1 mm. Our objective was to gain insights into the physical characteristics, dynamics, and evolutionary status of these regions. Among the 27 OH maser sources examined, we found that 23 of them exhibited associations with multiple peaks of millimeter emission within a 30' radius. Notably, two high mass protostellar object candidates, namely IRAS 18089-1732 and IRAS 19035 + 0641, displayed consistent tracers. Interferometer observations further supported our findings. Compared to methanol masers, OH masers exhibited a lower level of consistency with mm sources, with a coincidence rate of 11% at offsets of 0.5 arcsec or less. At 3'' offset, 13 (48%) OH maser sources were found to be associated with mm continuum emission, with 11 previously classified as evolved HMSFRs. However, at larger offsets of 20'', the association rate increased significantly to 63%, indicating a broader spatial distribution of OH masers. This variation in offsets could be attributed to the presence of OH masers from different layers of the circumstellar disk. Our results suggest that the association between OH masers and mm emission may serve as a tracer for advanced stages of high mass protostellar objects. Future high angular resolution observations are recommended to enhance our understanding of this association.

Observations of Possibly New OH Excited Rotational State Masers

AbstractIn order to search for new 6.035 GHz excited OH masers 272 star-forming regions visible from the northern hemisphere with known active methanol masers were observed with the 32 m and 16 m radio telescopes of the Ventspils International Radio Astronomy Center (VIRAC). Three possibly new excited OH maser sources at 6.035 GHz were seen.

A Profile-based Approach to Finding New Water Fountain Candidates using Databases of Circumstellar Maser Sources

AbstractWater fountains (WFs) are thought to represent an early stage in the morphological evolution of circumstellar envelopes surrounding low- and intermediate-mass evolved stars. These objects are considered to transition from spherical to asymmetric shapes. Despite their potential importance in this transformation process of evolved stars, there are only a few known examples. To identify new WF candidates, we used databases of circumstellar OH (1612 MHz) and H2O (22.235 GHz) maser sources, and compared the velocity ranges of the two maser lines. Finally, 41 sources were found to have a velocity range for the H2O maser line that exceeded that of the OH maser line. Excluding known planetary nebulae and after reviewing the maser spectra in the original literature, we found for 11 sources the exceedance as significant, qualifying them as new WF candidates.

Evolutionary map of the Universe (EMU): 18-cm OH-maser discovery in ASKAP continuum images of the SCORPIO field

ABSTRACT Low- and intermediate-mass stars end their life dispersing their outer layers into the circumstellar medium, during the asymptotic and post-asymptotic giant branch phases. OH masers at 18 cm offer an effective way to probe their circumstellar environment. In this work, we present the discovery of seven OH maser sources likely associated with such evolved stars from the visual inspection of Australian SKA Pathfinder (ASKAP) continuum images. These seven sources do not emit real continuum emission, but the high sensitivity of our images allows us to detect their maser emission, resembling continuum sources. To confirm their nature, we carried out spectral-line observations with ATCA. All the sources showed the double-peaked spectra at 1612 MHz, typical of evolved stars. The detection of maser emission in continuum images can be a complementary and easy-to-use method to discover new maser sources with the large-area deep surveys conducted with the Square Kilometre Array (SKA) precursors. The implication for radio stars studies are remarkable since pure OH maser sources (i.e. with no continuum associated) represent, at a sensitivity of $100\,\mu \mathrm{Jy\,beam}^{-1}$, about 4 per cent of all Galactic sources and by far the most numerous stellar population.

Modelled 3D distribution of OH/IR stars in the Galactic disc

ABSTRACT We have modelled the 3D distribution of OH/IR stars in the Galactic plane, traced by 1612 MHz OH maser sources with classic double horned spectral profiles. We statistically analysed over 700 maser sources detected by the HI/OH/Recombination line survey of the Milky Way (THOR) and the Australia Telescope Compact Array interferometric follow-up observations of the Southern Parkes Large-Area Survey in Hydroxyl (SPLASH). With a simple model constructed from a classical density distribution of stars and luminosity functions of OH maser sources in the Galaxy, we estimate the scale height, or the half thickness of the OH/IR star distribution along the Galactic disc to be 90–290 pc. The simple model also implies that there are ∼4000 OH/IR stars hosting 1612 MHz OH masers along the Galactic Plane. Therefore, next generation telescopes such as the Australian Square Kilometre Array Pathfinder (ASKAP) and SKA Phase 1 will detect about 80 per cent of such OH/IR stars in the Galaxy at a 10 mJy detection limit. Comparing the data of previously detected circumstellar 1612 MHz OH maser sources with those of THOR and SPLASH, the maser source lifetime is estimated to be ∼300 yr. This is likely a lower limit, since non-detections of masers in some cases could be affected by the flux variation of the maser source.

Evolution of OH Maser Emission in the Active Star-Forming Region W75N. I. Research in the 1665 MHz Line

The monitoring results of the OH maser source in W75 N in the main line at 1665 MHz performed in 2007–2020 using the Nancay Radio Telescope (France) are presented. Generally, the maser in 2007–2009 is characterized by a high activity. During the monitoring, time variations of the Stokes parameters were found for all spectral features in the radial velocity range from –1 to 14 km/s. We found that its positional angle $$\chi $$ and the degree of linear polarization $${{m}_{{\text{L}}}}$$ , as well as the degree of circular polarization $${{m}_{{\text{C}}}}$$ of most features, change with time according to certain regularities, not chaotically. Or they can change very weakly and there is a correlation with the variability of the flux density. In this case, the radial velocities of the features change very little. It is shown that the main feature at 12 km/s during 50 years since the discovery of the OH maser in W75 N had two maxima of activity with an interval of about 30 years between them. The identification of spectral features in the 1665 MHz line with maser spots on VLBA maps has been carried out. We showed that a strong flare of the main features in 2007–2009 occurred in the VLA 2 source. During this flare, small changes in the angle $$\chi $$ and significant changes in the degree of both linear and circular polarization of features at 1.75, 2.1, and 3.05 km/s were observed. For the 0.65 km/s feature, significant changes in all emission parameters were observed. The emission in the 1612 MHz satellite line is broadband. The broadening of the line to 1.9 km/s indicates that, in addition to thermal motion of matter, there is also turbulent motion of matter in the medium.

Simultaneous 22 GHz Water and 44 GHz Methanol Maser Survey of Ultracompact H ii Regions

We have carried out a multi-epoch simultaneous survey of 22 GHz H$_2$O and 44 GHz Class I CH$_3$OH masers toward 103 ultracompact HII regions (UCHIIs) between 2010 and 2017. We detected H$_2$O and CH$_3$OH maser emission in 74 (72%) and 55 (53%) UCHIIs, respectively. Among them, 3 H$_2$O and 27 CH$_3$OH maser sources are new detections. These high detection rates suggest that the occurrence periods of both maser species are significantly overlapped with the UCHII phase of massive star formation. The CH$_3$OH maser lines always have small (< 10 km s$^{-1}$) relative velocities with respect to the natal molecular cores, while H$_2$O maser lines often show larger relative velocities. Twenty four H$_2$O maser-detected sources have maser lines at relative velocities > 30 km s$^{-1}$, and thirteen of them show extremely high-velocity (> 50 km s$^{-1}$) components. The appearance and disappearance of H$_2$O maser lines are quite frequent over six-month or one-year time intervals. In contrast, CH$_3$OH maser lines usually do not exhibit significant variations in the line intensity, velocity, or shape for the same periods. The isotropic luminosities of both masers appear to correlate with the bolometric luminosities of the central stars. This correlation becomes much stronger in the case that data points in the low- and intermediate-mass regimes are added. The maser luminosities also tend to increase with the radio continuum luminosities of UCHIIs and the submillimeter continuum luminosities of the associated dense cores.

Current stage of the ATCA follow-up for SPLASH

AbstractFour ground-state OH transitions were detected in emission, absorption and maser emission in the Southern Parkes Large-Area Survey in Hydroxyl (SPLASH). We re-observed these OH masers with the Australia Telescope Compact Array to obtain positions with high accuracy (~1 arcsec). According to the positions, we categorised these OH masers into different classes, i.e. star formation, evolved stars, supernova remnants and unknown origin. We found one interesting OH maser source (G336.644-0.695) in the pilot region, which has been studied in detail in Qiaoet al.(2016a). In this paper, we present the current stage of the ATCA follow-up for SPLASH and discuss the potential future researches derived from the ATCA data.

VLBA SURVEYS OF OH MASERS IN STAR-FORMING REGIONS. I. SATELLITE LINES

ABSTRACT Using the Very Long Baseline Array we performed a high-resolution OH maser survey in Galactic star-forming regions (SFRs). We observed all the ground state spectral lines: the main lines at 1665 and 1667 MHz and the satellite lines at 1612 and 1720 MHz. Due to the exceptionality of finding satellite lines in SFRs, we will focus our discussion on those lines. In our sample of 41 OH maser sources, five (12%) showed the 1612 MHz line and ten (24%) showed the 1720 MHz line, with only one source showing both lines. We find that 1720 MHz emission is correlated with the presence of H ii regions, suggesting that this emission could be used to diagnose or trace high-mass star formation. We include an analysis of the possible mechanisms that could be causing this correlation as well as assessing the possible relationships between lines in our sample. In particular, the presence of magnetic fields seems to play an important role as we found Zeeman splitting in four of our sources (W75 N, W3(OH), W51 and NGC 7538). Our results have implications for current understanding of the formation of high-mass stars as well as on the masing processes present in SFRs.

MASS-LOSS RATES OF OH/IR STARS

We compare mass-loss rates of OH/IR stars obtained from radio observations with those derived from the dust radiative transfer models and IR observations. We collect radio observational data of OH maser and CO line emission sources for a sample of 1533 OH/IR stars listed in Suh & Kwon (2011). For 1259 OH maser, 76 CO(J=1-0), and 55 CO(J=2-1) emission sources, we compile data of the expansion velocity and mass-loss rate. We use a dust radiative transfer model for the dust shell to calculate the mass-loss rate as well as the IR color indices. The observed mass-loss rates are in the range predicted by the theoretical dust shell models corresponding to <TEX>$\dot{M}=10^{-8}M_{\odot}/yr-10^{-4}M_{\odot}/yr$</TEX>. We find that the dust model using a simple mixture of amorphous silicate and amorphous <TEX>$Al_2O_3$</TEX> (20% by mass) grains can explain the observations fairly well. The results indicate that the dust radiative transfer models for IR observations generally agree with the radio observations. For high mass-loss rate OH/IR stars, the mass-loss rates obtained from radio observations are underestimated compared to the mass-loss rates derived from the dust shell models. This could be because photon momentum transfer to the gas shell is not possible for the physical condition of high mass-loss rates. Alternative explanations could be the effects of different dust-to-gas ratios and/or a superwind.

22 GHz water maser search in 37 nearby galaxies

We report four new 22 GHz water masers found in a Green Bank Telescope search toward 37 nearby objects. Our goal was to find new maser galaxies, AGN disk-masers, and objects where both hydroxyl and water maser species coexist. We observed 37 sources within 250 Mpc that were selected by high X-ray luminosity (L_X > 10^40 W) and high absorbing column density (N_H ~ 10^22 cm^-2). Sources also included dual or triple AGN and interacting systems. We further included objects detected in hydroxyl (OH). The selection consisted of 16 new sources, 13 previous non-detections to follow up with a factor ten higher sensitivity, 10 OH masers and one deep OH absorber, of which 37 were observed. Water megamasers were detected towards the Sy 2 galaxy 2MFGC 13581 (a disk-maser), towards the 6 GHz OH absorber NGC 4261 (3C 270 with a twin-jet and dusty torus; broad water maser emission), and towards the two 1.6 GHz OH maser sources IRAS 17526+3253 and IRAS 20550+1656 (possible star formation water masers). We set upper limits on 33 non-detections. The search increased the number of known "dual-species" objects containing both OH and H2O masers to eight. The detection rate was 25 % in OH galaxies and 11 % overall. Combined with other searches, a total of 95 objects have now been searched for both OH and H2O masers. We found the overall dual-species detection rate (8 in 95) to be of the order of the joint probability of both species independently occurring in the same object (1 % lower bound). However, this needs to be verified by a more detailed analysis of selection criteria. Lastly, we see a lack of H2O kilomasers in OH megamaser objects already noted by Tarchi et al. (2011). This may be due to sensitivity bias rather than astrophysical reasons.

OH MASER SOURCES IN W49N: PROBING MAGNETIC FIELD AND DIFFERENTIAL ANISOTROPIC SCATTERING WITH ZEEMAN PAIRS USING THE VERY LONG BASELINE ARRAY

Our analysis of a VLBA 12-hour synthesis observation of the OH masers in a well-known star-forming region W49N has yielded valuable data that enables us to probe distributions of magnetic fields in both the maser columns and the intervening interstellar medium (ISM). The data consisting of detailed high angular-resolution images (with beam-width ~20 milli-arc-seconds) of several dozen OH maser sources or "spots", at 1612, 1665 and 1667 MHz, reveal anisotropic scatter broadening, with typical sizes of a few tens of milli-arc-seconds and axial ratios between 1.5 to 3. Such anisotropies have been reported earlier by Desai, Gwinn & Diamond (1994) and interpreted as induced by the local magnetic field parallel to the Galactic plane. However, we find a) the apparent angular sizes on the average a factor of ~2.5 less than those reported by Desai et al. (1994), indicating significantly less scattering than inferred earlier, and b) a significant deviation in the average orientation of the scatter-broadened images (by ~10 degrees) from that implied by the magnetic field in the Galactic plane. More intriguingly, for a few Zeeman pairs in our set, significant differences (up to 6 sigma) are apparent in the scatter broadened images for the two hands of circular polarization, even when apparent velocity separation is less than 0.1 km/s. This may possibly be the first example of a Faraday rotation contribution to the diffractive effects in the ISM. Using the Zeeman pairs, we also study the distribution of magnetic field in the W49N complex, finding no significant trend in the spatial structure function. In this paper, we present the details of our observations and analysis leading to these findings, discuss implications of our results for the intervening anisotropic magneto-ionic medium, and suggest the possible implications for the structure of magnetic fields within this star-forming region.

Magnetic Fields in 7 Young Stellar Objects Observed with Nançay Radio Telescope

AbstractMagnetic fields (MF) can play an essential role in the evolution of the interstellar medium - especially at the early evolutionary stages. Small scale research related to the interaction of MF and pre-stellar condensations are unresolved issues. In quantitative terms, submissions about forming a full picture of gas-dust fragments evolution are far from complete, considering delay of their collapse caused by MF and the reverse effect of self-gravitating objects on the transformation of force lines and changing the values of local strength. The role of these interrelated processes is very important in the estimation of time of evolution of protostellar structures. In contrast to OH, in methanol molecule (most investigating at the moment) there is no unpaired electron, and the Zeeman splitting of the energy levels in CH3OH regards only the levels caused by the nuclear spin. Therefore, Zeeman spectrum in methanol is certainly not going to be as effective as in OH. However, since many methanol masers - Class I (MMI - formed at the earliest stage of the evolution of gas and dust condensations) and Class II (MMII - the area around very young stars and protoplanetary disks) - are associated with OH masers, then from spectra of OH masers the parameters of MF can be estimated, at least, near different methanol masers classes, i.e. in condensations which are at different evolutionary stages. This report presents the results of polarization observations 7 OH maser sources at the NRT (France). The main goal is comparing similarities and differences in MF strength and orientation in these masers, which essentially different according to the type of methanol masers associated with them, i.e. the evolutionary type.

PROPERTIES OF OH, SIO, AND H2O MASER EMISSION IN O-RICH AGB STARS

We investigate the properties of OH, SiO, and H2O maser emission in O-rich AGB stars. We use a sample of 3373 objects, which is an updated version of the list of O-rich AGB stars presented in Suh & Kwon (2011). We divide the 3373 O-rich AGB stars into four different groups based on the maser emission: OH maser sources (1533), SiO sources (1627), H₂O sources (452), and sources with no maser (610). To understand the nature of the maser sources, we present various infrared two-color diagrams (2CDs) using IRAS, 2MASS, and AKARI data. For each group, we compare the positions on various infrared 2CDs with theoretical models. We find that the OH maser sources generally show larger color indices and larger dust optical depths than SiO or H₂O sources. We suggest that the differences of the color indices for different maser sources are due to different mass-loss rates and dust formation processes.

The source of maser emission in W33C (G12.8-0.2)

The results of observations of the H2O and OH maser sources toward the region of W33C (G12.8-0.2) are reported. The observations were carried out on the 22-m radio telescope of the Pushchino Radio Astronomy Observatory in the 1.35-cm water-vapor line and on the Large Radio Telescope at Nançay (France), in the main (1665 and 1667 MHz) and satellite (1612 and 1720 MHz) OH lines. Multiple, strongly variable, short-lived H2O emission features were detected in a broad interval of radial velocities, from −7 to 55 km/s. OH maser emission in the 1667-MHz line was detected at velocities of 35–41 km/s. The Stokes parameters of the maser emission in the main OH lines 1665 and 1667 MHz were measured. Zeeman splitting was detected in the 1665-MHz line at 33.4 and 39.4 km/s, and in the 1667 MHz line only at 39.4 km/s. The magnetic-field intensity was estimated. Appreciable variability of the Zeeman splitting components was observed at 39 and 39.8 km/s in both main lines. The extended spectrum and fast variability of the H2O maser emission, together with the variability of the Zeeman-splitting components in the main OH lines, may indicate a composite clumpy structure of the molecular cloud and the presence of large-scale rotation, bipolar outflows, and turbulent motions of material in this cloud.

OH Maser sources in W49N: probing differential anisotropic scattering with Zeeman pairs

AbstractOur analysis of a VLBA 12-hour synthesis observations of the OH masers in W49N has provided detailed high angular-resolution images of the maser sources, at 1612, 1665 and 1667 MHz. The images, of several dozens of spots, reveal anisotropic scatter broadening; with typical sizes of a few tens of milli-arc-seconds and axial ratios between 1.5 to 3. The image position angles oriented perpendicular to the galactic plane are interpreted in terms of elongation of electron-density irregularities parallel to the galactic plane, due to a similarly aligned local magnetic field. However, we find the apparent angular sizes on the average a factor of 2.5 less than those reported by Desai et al., indicating significantly less scattering than inferred earlier. The average position angle of the scattered broadened images is also seen to deviate significantly (by about 10 degrees) from that implied by the magnetic field in the Galactic plane. More intriguingly, for a few Zeeman pairs in our set, we find significant differences in the scatter broadened images for the two hands of polarization, even when apparent velocity separation is less than 0.1 km/s. Here we present the details of our observations and analysis, and discuss the interesting implications of our results for the intervening anisotropic magneto-ionic medium, as well as a comparison with the expectations based on earlier work.

AGN and Megamasers

AbstractLuminous extragalactic masers are traditionally referred to as the ‘megamasers’. Those produced by water molecules are associated with accretion disks, radio jets, or outflows in the nuclear regions of active galactic nuclei (AGN). The majority of OH maser sources are instead driven by intense star formation in ultra-luminous infrared galaxies, although in a few cases the OH maser emission traces rotating (toroidal or disk) structures around the nuclear engines of AGN. Thus, detailed maser studies provide a fundamental contribution to our knowledge of the main nuclear components of AGN, constitute unique tools to measure geometric distances of host galaxies, and have a great impact on probing the, so far, paradigmatic Unified Model of AGN.

Circumnuclear dense gas in OH-megamaser galaxies

The properties of a sample of extragalactic OH maser sources over a wide spectral range are discussed. Based on a sample of 22 maser galaxies it is shown that OH, HCN, and x-ray emission are closely related. On the other hand, these emissions depend on the mass of the galactic nucleus. It is shown that the broadening of the OH emission line is caused by the rotation of the circumnuclear disk, dense regions of which serve as the sources of OH and HCN emission. X-ray heating can excite OH and HCN molecules.

Characteristics of infrared point sources associated with OH masers

We collect 3249 OH maser sources from the literature published up to April 2007, and compile a new catalog of OH masers. We look for the exciting sources of these masers and their infrared properties from IRAS and MSX data, and make a statistical study. MSX sources associated with stellar 1612 MHz OH masers are located mainly above the blackbody line; this is caused by the dust absorption of stellar envelopes, especially in the MSX_A band. The mid-IR sources associated with stellar OH masers are concentrated in a small region in an [A]–[D] vs. [A]–[E] diagram with a small fraction of contamination; this gives us a new criterion to search for new stellar OH masers and distinguish stellar masers from unknown types of OH masers. IR sources associated with 1612 MHz stellar OH masers show an expected result: the average flux of sources with F60 > F25 increases with increasing wavelength, while those with F60 < F25 vary little with wavelength, because the sources with F60 < F25 are much hotter than those with F60 > F25.

The new star forming site NGC 6334 IV (MM3)

Aims. The eastern part of the massive star forming region NGC 6334 IV is characterized by the presence of the millimeter continuum sources MM3, MM4, and the optically thin HII region G351.24+0.65. Here we study the star formation in this part of the cloud. Methods. We imaged this region, here named NGC 6334 IV (MM3), at sub-arcsec resolution in Ks, H2 ,B rγ, and in the mid-infrared, from 8.9 to 12.7 μm. In addition, we used IRAC/Spitzer and ISOCAM images. Results. From the analysis of the IRAC color-color and H −Ks versus Ks – [3.6] diagrams, we found 18 embedded very young stellar objects within an area of 75 �� × 75 �� . One of these sources, IR-MM3 (IRS 8E), shows a very steep energy distribution with an infrared spectral index of αIR = 3. 5a ndLbol = 985 L� . This protostar, which coincides with an OH maser source and with the continuum millimeter source MM3, is the exciting source of two hydrogen molecular knots found in our H2 image. Two sources (IRS 18, and 19) with infrared excess and a steep SED are probably associated with the HII region G351.24+0.65. The IRAC and ISOCAM images indicate the presence of extended PAH emission in the region. Conclusions. We have discovered a new center of massive star formation in the giant molecular cloud complex NGC 6334.