1,761 research outputs found
VLBI study of maser kinematics in high-mass SFRs. II. G23.01-0.41
The present paper focuses on the high-mass star-forming region G23.01-0.41.
Methods: Using the VLBA and the EVN arrays, we conducted phase-referenced
observations of the three most powerful maser species in G23.01-0.41: H2O at
22.2 GHz (4 epochs), CH3OH at 6.7 GHz (3 epochs), and OH at 1.665 GHz (1
epoch). In addition, we performed high-resolution (> 0".1), high-sensitivity (<
0.1 mJy) VLA observations of the radio continuum emission from the HMC at 1.3
and 3.6 cm. Results: We have detected H2O, CH3OH, and OH maser emission
clustered within 2000 AU from the center of a flattened HMC, oriented SE-NW,
from which emerges a massive 12CO outflow, elongated NE-SW, extended up to the
pc-scale. Although the three maser species show a clearly different spatial and
velocity distribution and sample distinct environments around the massive YSO,
the spatial symmetry and velocity field of each maser specie can be explained
in terms of expansion from a common center, which possibly denotes the position
of the YSO driving the maser motion. Water masers trace both a fast shock (up
to 50 km/s) closer to the YSO, powered by a wide-angle wind, and a slower (20
km/s) bipolar jet, at the base of the large-scale outflow. Since the compact
free-free emission is found offset from the putative location of the YSO along
a direction consistent with that of the maser jet axis, we interpret the radio
continuum in terms of a thermal jet. The velocity field of methanol masers can
be explained in terms of a composition of slow (4 km/s in amplitude) motions of
radial expansion and rotation about an axis approximately parallel to the maser
jet. Finally, the distribution of line of sight velocities of the hydroxyl
masers suggests that they can trace gas less dense (n(H2) < 10^6 cm^-3) and
more distant from the YSO than that traced by the water and methanol masers,
which is expanding toward the observer. (Abridged)Comment: 23 pages, 8 figures, 4 tables, accepted by Astronomy and Astrophysic
An analysis of the X-ray emission from the supernova remnant 3C397
The ASCA SIS and the ROSAT PSPC spectral data of the SNR 3C397 are analysed
with a two-component non-equilibrium ionization model. Besides, the ASCA SIS0
and SIS1 spectra are also fitted simultaneously in an equilibrium case. The
resulting values of the hydrogen column density yield a distance of \sim8\kpc
to 3C397. It is found that the hard X-ray emission, containing S and Fe
K lines, arises primarily from the hot component, while most of the
soft emission, composed mainly of Mg, Si, Fe L lines, and continuum, is
produced by the cool component. The emission measures suggest that the remnant
evolves in a cloudy medium and imply that the supernova progenitor might not be
a massive early-type star. The cool component is approaching ionization
equilibrium. The ages estimated from the ionization parameters and dynamics are
all much greater than the previous determination. We restore the X-ray maps
using the ASCA SIS data and compare them with the ROSAT HRI and the NRAO VLA
Sky Survey (NVSS) 20 cm maps. The morphology with two bright concentrations
suggests a bipolar remnant encountering a denser medium in the west.Comment: 20 pages, aasms4.sty, 3 figures To appear in ApJ (1999
Methanol masers : Reliable tracers of the early stages of high-mass star formation
The GLIMPSE and MSX surveys have been used to examine the mid-infrared
properties of a statistically complete sample of 6.7 GHz methanol masers. The
GLIMPSE point sources associated with methanol masers are clearly distinguished
from the majority, typically having extremely red mid-infrared colors, similar
to those expected of low-mass class 0 young stellar objects. The intensity of
the GLIMPSE sources associated with methanol masers is typically 4 magnitudes
brighter at 8.0 micron than at 3.6 micron. Targeted searches towards GLIMPSE
point sources with [3.6]-[4.5] > 1.3 and an 8.0 micron magnitude less than 10
will detect more than 80% of class II methanol masers. Many of the methanol
masers are associated with sources within infrared dark clouds (IRDC) which are
believed to mark regions where high-mass star formation is in its very early
stages. The presence of class II methanol masers in a significant fraction of
IRDC suggests that high-mass star formation is common in these regions.
Different maser species are thought to trace different evolutionary phases of
the high-mass star formation process. Comparison of the properties of the
GLIMPSE sources associated with class II methanol masers and other maser
species shows interesting trends, consistent with class I methanol masers
tracing a generally earlier evolutionary phase and OH masers tracing a later
evolutionary phase.Comment: 45 pages, 19 figures, accepted for publication in Ap
A Search for H2CO 6cm Emission toward Young Stellar Objects III: VLA Observations
We report the results of our third survey for formaldehyde (H2CO) 6cm maser
emission in the Galaxy. Using the Very Large Array, we detected two new H2CO
maser sources (G23.01-0.41 and G25.83-0.18), thus increasing the sample of
known H2CO maser regions in the Galaxy to seven. We review the characteristics
of the G23.01-0.41 and G25.83-0.18 star forming regions. The H2CO masers in
G23.01-0.41 and G25.83-0.18 share several properties with the other known H2CO
masers, in particular, emission from rich maser environments and close
proximity to very young massive stellar objects.Comment: Accepted for publication in the Astrophysical Journal Supplement
Serie
NGC 3576 and NGC 3603: Two Luminous Southern HII Regions Observed at High Resolution with the Australia Telescope Compact Array
NGC 3576 (G291.28-0.71; l=291.3o, b=-0.7o) and NGC 3603 (G291.58-0.43;
l=291.6o, b=-0.5o) are optically visible, luminous HII regions located at
distances of 3.0 kpc and 6.1 kpc, respectively. We present 3.4 cm Australian
Telescope Compact Array (ATCA) observations of these two sources in the
continuum and the H90a, He90a, C90a and H113b recombination lines with an
angular resolution of 7" and a velocity resolution of 2.6 km/s. All four
recombination lines are detected in the integrated profiles of the two sources.
Broad radio recombination lines are detected in both NGC 3576 (DV_{FWHM}>= 50
km/s) and NGC 3603 (DV_{FWHM}>=70 km/s). In NGC 3576 a prominent N-S velocity
gradient (~30 km/s/pc) is observed, and a clear temperature gradient (6000 K to
8000 K) is found from east to west, consistent with a known IR color gradient
in the source. In NGC 3603, the H90a, He90a and the H113b lines are detected
from 13 individual sources. The Y^+ (He/H) ratios in the two sources range from
0.08+/-0.04 to 0.26+/-0.10. We compare the morphology and kinematics of the
ionized gas at 3.4 cm with the distribution of stars, 10 micron emission and
H_2O, OH, and CH_3OH maser emission. These comparisons suggest that both NGC
3576 and NGC 3603 have undergone sequential star formation.Comment: 24 pages, 12 Postscript figure
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Decapitating the Duck: The (non)association of PSR B1757-24 and supernova remnant G5.4-1.2
We have made the first direct interferometric proper motion measurements of
the radio pulsar B1757-24, which sits at the tip of the "beak" of the putative
"Duck" supernova remnant. The peculiar morphology of this radio complex has
been used to argue alternately that the pulsar's space motion was either
surprisingly high or surprisingly low. In fact, we show that the pulsar's
motion is so small that it and its associated nonthermal nebula G5.27-0.9 (the
"head") are almost certainly unrelated to the much larger G5.4-1.2 (the
"wings").Comment: 10 pages, 1 figure, accepted for publication in ApJ
New OH Zeeman measurements of magnetic field strengths in molecular clouds
We present the results of a new survey of 23 molecular clouds for the Zeeman
effect in OH undertaken with the ATNF Parkes 64-m radio telescope and the NRAO
Green Bank 43-m radio telescope. The Zeeman effect was clearly detected in the
cloud associated with the HII region RCW 38, with a field strength of 38+/-3
micro-Gauss, and possibly detected in a cloud associated with the HII region
RCW 57, with a field strength of -203+/-24 micro-Gauss. The remaining 21
measurements give formal upper limits to the magnetic field strength, with
typical 1-sigma sensitivities <20 micro-Gauss. For 22 of the molecular clouds
we are also able to determine thecolumn density of the gas in which we have
made a sensitive search for the Zeeman effect. We combine these results with
previous Zeeman studies of 29 molecular clouds, most of which were compiled by
Crutcher (1999), for a comparsion of theoretical models with the data. This
comparison implies that if the clouds can be modeled as initially spherical
with uniform magnetic fields and densities that evolve to their final
equilibrium state assuming flux-freezing then the typical cloud is magnetically
supercritical, as was found by Crutcher (1999). If the clouds can be modeled as
highly flattened sheets threaded by uniform perpendicular fields, then the
typical cloud is approximately magnetically critical, in agreement with Shu et
al. (1999), but only if the true values of the field for the non-detections are
close to the 3-sigma upper limits. If instead these values are significantly
lower (for example, similar to the 1-sigma limits), then the typical cloud is
generally magnetically supercritical.Comment: 39 pages, 7 figures. Accepted for publication in Ap
Six New Galactic Orbits of Globular Clusters in a Milky-Way-Like Galaxy
Absolute proper motions for six new globular clusters have recently been
determined. This motivated us to obtain the Galactic orbits of these six
clusters both in an axisymmetric Galactic potential and in a barred potential,
such as the one of our Galaxy. Orbits are also obtained for a Galactic
potential that includes spiral arms. The orbital characteristics are compared
and discussed for these three cases. Tidal radii and destruction rates are also
computed and discussed.Comment: 29 pages, 11 figures. Accepted for publication in Ap
The young massive stellar cluster associated to RCW121
We report NIR broad and narrow band photometric observations in the direction
of the IRAS17149-3916 source that reveal the presence of a young cluster of
massive stars embedded in an HII region coincident with RCW121. These
observations, together with published radio data, MSX and Spitzer images were
used to determine some of the physical parameters of the region. We found 96
cluster member candidates in an area of about 1.5 x 2.0 square arcmin, 30% of
them showing excess emission in the NIR. IRS 1, the strongest source in the
cluster with an estimated spectral type of O5V-O6V ZAMS based on the
color-magnitude diagram, is probably the main ionizing source of the HII region
detected at radio wavelengths. Using the integrated Brgamma and the 5 GHz flux
densities, we derived a mean visual extinction AV=5.49 magnitudes. From the
observed size of the Brgamma extended emission, we calculated the emission
measure E and the electron density ne, characteristic of compact HII regions.Comment: 18 pages, 8 figures, accepted for publication on AJ (February/2006
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