113 research outputs found
EVLA Observations of OH Masers in ON 1
This Letter reports on initial Expanded Very Large Array (EVLA) observations
of the 6035 MHz masers in ON 1. The EVLA data are of good quality, lending
confidence in the new receiver system. Nineteen maser features, including six
Zeeman pairs, are detected. The overall distribution of 6035 MHz OH masers is
similar to that of the 1665 MHz OH masers. The spatial resolution is sufficient
to unambiguously determine that the magnetic field is strong (~ -10 mG) at the
location of the blueshifted masers in the north, consistent with Zeeman
splitting detected in 13441 MHz OH masers in the same velocity range. Left and
right circularly polarized ground-state features dominate in different regions
in the north of the source, which may be due to a combination of magnetic field
and velocity gradients. The combined distribution of all OH masers toward the
south is suggestive of a shock structure of the sort previously seen in W3(OH).Comment: 4 pages using emulateapj.cls including 2 tables and 2 color figure
Revising the kinematics of 12GHz CH3OH masers in W3(OH)
We derive accurate proper motions of the CH3OH 12 GHz masers towards the
W3(OH) UCHII region, employing seven epochs of VLBA observations spanning a
time interval of about 10 yr. The achieved velocity accuracy is of the order of
0.1 km/s, adequate to precisely measure the relative velocities of most of the
12 GHz masers in W3(OH), with amplitude varying in the range 0.3 - 3 km/s.
Towards W3(OH), the most intense 12 GHz masers concentrate in a small area
towards the north (the northern clump) of the UCHII region. We have compared
the proper motions of the CH3OH 12 GHz masers with those (derived from
literature data) of the OH 6035 MHz masers, emitting from the same region of
the methanol masers. In the northern clump, the two maser emissions emerge from
nearby (but likely distinct) cloudlets of masing gas with, in general, a rather
smooth variation of line-of-sight and sky-projected velocities, which suggests
some connection of the environments and kinematics traced by both maser types.
The conical outflow model, previously proposed to account for the 12 GHz maser
kinematics in the northern clump, does not reproduce the new, accurate
measurements of 12 GHz maser proper motions and has to be rejected. We focus on
the subset of 12 GHz masers of the northern clump belonging to the "linear
structure at P.A. = 130-140 degree", whose regular variation of LSR velocities
with position presents evidence for some ordered motion. We show that the
3-dimensional velocities of this "linear distribution" of 12GHz masers can be
well fitted considering a flat, rotating disk, seen almost edge-on.Comment: 32 pages, 10 figures; accepted in ApJ (Main Journal
Full-Polarization Observations of OH Masers in Massive Star-Forming Regions: I. Data
We present full-polarization VLBA maps of the ground-state, main-line, 2 Pi
3/2, J = 3/2 OH masers in 18 Galactic massive star-forming regions. This is the
first large polarization survey of interstellar hydroxyl masers at VLBI
resolution. A total of 184 Zeeman pairs are identified, and the corresponding
magnetic field strengths are indicated. We also present spectra of the NH3
emission or absorption in these star-forming regions. Analysis of these data
will be presented in a companion paper.Comment: 111 pages, including 42 figures and 21 tables, to appear in ApJ
A Feature Movie of SiO Emission 20-100 AU from the Massive Young Stellar Object Orion Source I
We present multi-epoch VLBA imaging of the 28SiO v=1 & v=2, J=1-0 maser
emission toward the massive YSO Orion Source I. Both SiO transitions were
observed simultaneously with an angular resolution of ~0.5 mas (~0.2 AU for
d=414 pc). Here we explore the global properties and kinematics of the emission
through two 19-epoch animated movies spanning 21 months (2001 March 19 to 2002
December 10). These movies provide the most detailed view to date of the
dynamics and temporal evolution of molecular material within ~20-100 AU of a
massive (~>8M_sun) YSO. The bulk of the SiO masers surrounding Source I lie in
an X-shaped locus; emission in the South/East arms is predominantly blueshifted
and in the North and West is predominantly redshifted. In addition, bridges of
intermediate-velocity emission connect the red and blue sides of the emission
distribution. We have measured proper motions of >1000 maser features and find
a combination of radially outward migrations along the four arms and motions
tangent to the bridges. We interpret the SiO masers as arising from a
wide-angle bipolar wind emanating from a rotating, edge-on disk. The detection
of maser features along extended, curved filaments suggests that magnetic
fields may play a role in launching and/or shaping the wind. Our observations
appear to support a picture in which stars with M ~>8 M_sun form via
disk-mediated accretion. However, we cannot rule out that the Source I disk may
have been formed or altered following a close encounter. (Abridged).Comment: Accepted to ApJ (January 2010); a full resolution version along with
two accompanying GIF movies may be found at
http://www.cfa.harvard.edu/kalypso
Structure of W3(OH) from Very High Spectral Resolution Observations of 5 Centimeter OH Masers
Recent studies of methanol and ground-state OH masers at very high spectral
resolution have shed new light on small-scale maser processes. The nearby
source W3(OH), which contains numerous bright masers in several different
transitions, provides an excellent laboratory for high spectral resolution
techniques. We present a model of W3(OH) based on EVN observations of the
rotationally-excited 6030 and 6035 MHz OH masers taken at 0.024 km/s spectral
resolution. The 6.0 GHz masers are becoming brighter with time and show
evidence for tangential proper motions. We confirm the existence of a region of
magnetic field oriented toward the observer to the southeast and find another
such region to the northeast in W3(OH), near the champagne flow. The 6.0 GHz
masers trace the inner edge of a counterclockwise rotating torus feature.
Masers at 6030 MHz are usually a factor of a few weaker than at 6035 MHz but
trace the same material. Velocity gradients of nearby Zeeman components are
much more closely correlated than in the ground state, likely due to the
smaller spatial separation between Zeeman components. Hydroxyl maser peaks at
very long baseline interferometric resolution appear to have structure on
scales both smaller than that resolvable as well as on larger scales.Comment: 21 pages using emulateapj.cls including 16 figures and 2 tables,
accepted to Ap
5cm OH masers as diagnostics of physical conditions in star-forming regions
We demonstrate that the observed characteristics of the 5 cm OH masers in
star-forming regions can be explained with the same model and the same
parameters as the 18 cm and the 6 cm OH masers. In our already published study
of the 18 cm and the 6 cm OH masers in star-forming regions we had examined the
pumping of the 5 cm masers, but did not report the results we had found because
of some missing collision rate coefficients, which in principle could be
important. The recently published observations on the 5 cm masers of OH
encourage us to report our old calculations along with some new ones that we
have performed. These calculations, in agreement with the observations, reveal
the main lines at 5 cm as strong masers, the 6049 MHz satellite line as a weak
maser, and the 6017 MHz satellite line as never inverted for reasonable values
of the parametersComment: TeX 15 pages, 30 postscript figures, accepted by Ap
Rotten Egg Nebula: The magnetic field of a binary evolved star
Most of PNe are not spherical. The loss of spherical symmetry occurs
somewhere between the AGB and PN phase. The cause of this change of morphology
is not yet well known, but magnetic fields are one of the possible agents. Its
origin remains to be determined, and potentially requires the presence of a
massive companion to the AGB star. Therefore, further detections of the
magnetic field around evolved stars (in particular those thought to be part of
a binary system) are crucial to improve our understanding of the origin and
role of magnetism on evolved stars. One such binaries is the pre-PN OH231.8,
around which a magnetic field was detected in the OH maser region of the outer
circumstellar envelope. We aim to detect and infer the properties of the
magnetic field of this source in the water maser region.
We observed the 6_{1,6}-5_{2,3} water maser rotational transition to
determine its linear and circular polarization. These emissions are located
within the inner regions of OH231.8 (at few tens of AU). We detected 30 water
maser features, which occur in two distinct regions that are moving apart with
a velocity on the sky of 2.3 mas/year. Taking into account the inclination
angle of the source, this corresponds to an average separation velocity of 21
km/s. Based on the velocity gradient of the maser emission, the masers appear
to be dragged along the direction of the nebula jet. Linear polarization is
present in 3 of the features, and circular polarization was detected in the 2
brightest ones. We found that the strength of the magnetic field is |B_{||}|~45
mG which, when assuming a toroidal magnetic field, implies B~2.5 G on the
stellar surface. The morphology of the field is not yet determined, but the
high scatter found on the directions of the linear polarization vectors could
indicate that the masers occur near the tangent points of a toroidal field.Comment: 7 pages, 4 figure
The variable mass loss of the AGB star WX Psc as traced by the CO J=1-0 through 7-6 lines and the dust emission
Low and intermediate mass stars lose a significant fraction of their mass
through a dust-driven wind during the Asymptotic Giant Branch (AGB) phase.
Recent studies show that winds from late-type stars are far from being smooth.
Mass-loss variations occur on different time scales, from years to tens of
thousands of years. The variations appear to be particularly prominent towards
the end of the AGB evolution. The occurrence, amplitude and time scale of these
variations are still not well understood.
The goal of our study is to gain insight into the structure of the
circumstellar envelope (CSE) of WX Psc and map the possible variability of the
late-AGB mass-loss phenomenon.
We have performed an in-depth analysis of the extreme infrared AGB star WX
Psc by modeling (1) the CO J=1-0 through 7-6 rotational line profiles and the
full spectral energy distribution (SED) ranging from 0.7 to 1300 micron. We
hence are able to trace a geometrically extended region of the CSE.
Both mass-loss diagnostics bear evidence of the occurrence of mass-loss
modulations during the last ~2000 yr. In particular, WX Psc went through a high
mass-loss phase (Mdot~5e-5 Msun/yr) some 800 yr ago. This phase lasted about
600 yr and was followed by a long period of low mass loss (Mdot~5e-8 Msun/yr).
The present day mass-loss rate is estimated to be ~6e-6 Msun/yr.
The AGB star WX Psc has undergone strong mass-loss rate variability on a time
scale of several hundred years during the last few thousand years. These
variations are traced in the strength and profile of the CO rotational lines
and in the SED. We have consistently simulated the behaviour of both tracers
using radiative transfer codes that allow for non-constant mass-loss rates.Comment: 12 pages, accepted for publication in A&
Magnetic Field Morphology of Orion-IRc2 from 86 GHz SiO Maser Polarization Images
In an attempt to probe the magnetic field morphology near the massive young
star Orion-IRc2, we mapped the linear polarization of its J=2-1 SiO masers, in
both the v=0 and v=1 vibrational levels, with 0.5 arcsec resolution. The
intense v=1 masers are confined to a narrow zone 40 AU from the star. Their
polarization position angles vary significantly on time scales of years. For
the v=1 masers the stimulated emission rate R is likely to exceed the Zeeman
splitting g\Omega due to any plausible magnetic field; in this case the maser
polarization need not correlate with the field direction. The much weaker v=0
masers in the ground vibrational level lie 100-700 AU from IRc2, in what
appears to be a flared disk. Their fractional polarizations are as high as 50%.
The polarization position angles vary little across the line profile or the
emission region, and appear to be stable in time. The position angle, P.A. = 80
degrees, we measure for the J=2-1 masers differs by 70 degrees from that
measured for the J=1-0 SiO transition, possibly because of Faraday rotation in
the foreground, Orion A, HII region. A rotation measure RM = 3.3 \times 10^4
rad m is required to bring the J=2-1 and J=1-0 position angles into
concordance. The intrinsic polarization position angle for both transitions is
then 57 degrees, parallel to the plane of the putative disk. Probably the
magnetic field threads the disk poloidally. There is little evidence for a
pinched or twisted field near the star.Comment: accepted for publication in Ap
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