VERA Observation of the W49N H2O Maser Outburst in 2003 October

We report on a strong outburst of the W49N H2O maser observed with VERA. Single-dish monitoring with VERA 20 m telescopes detected a strong outburst of the maser feature at V_LSR = -30.7 km/s in 2003 October. The outburst had a duration of ~100 days and a peak intensity of 7.9 x 10^4 Jy, being one of the strongest outbursts in W49N observed so far. VLBI observations with the VERA array were also carried out near to the maximum phase of the outburst, and the outburst spot was identified in the VLBI map. While the map was in good agreement with previous studies, showing three major concentrations of maser spots, we found a newly formed arc-like structure in the central maser concentration, which may be a shock front powered by a forming star or a star cluster. The outburst spot was found to be located on the arc-like structure, indicating a possible connection of the present outburst to a shock phenomenon.Comment: 4 pages, 2 figures included, to appear in PASJ letter (Vol.56, #3, 2004 June

A new astronomical facility for Peru: transforming a telecommunication's 32-metre antenna into a radio-telescope

In 1984 an INTELSAT antenna of 32 m of diameter was constructed at 3 370 metres above the sea level on the Peruvian Andes. At the time Entel Pernica del Perú. Since transoceanic fiber optics replaced radically satellite communications in 2002, a beautiful 32- metre parabolic antenna was finished its tele-communications mission and become available for other use. So in cooperation with the National Astronomical Observatory of Japan we began coordination to transform the antenna into a radio-telescope.Researches on interstellar medium around Young Stellar Objects (YSO) are possible using methanol maser that emits at 6.7 GHz, so initially we will monitor and survey maser sources at the southern sky. An ambient temperature receiver with Trx = 60 K was developed at Nobeyama Radio Observatory and is ready to be installed. The antenna will be controlled by the Field System FS9 software installed in a PC within a Linux environment. An interface between antenna and PC was developed at Kashima Space Research Center in Japan by Mr E. Vidal.In the near future S-band (2 GHz), X-band (8GHz), 12 GHz and 22 GHz observations are planned.The peculiar position and altitude of the Peruvian Radio Observatory will be useful for VLBI observations with the VLBA for astronomical observation and geodetic measurements. For Peru where few or almost non astronomical observational instruments are available for research, implementation of the first radio observatory is a big step to foster sciences at graduate and postgraduate levels of universities. Worldwide tele-communications antennas recently tend to finish their role as tele-communications antennas. Several of them are transformed into useful observational instruments