1,105 research outputs found
New detections of H2O masers in planetary nebulae and post-AGB stars using the Robledo-70m antenna
Aims: We investigated the possible relationship between the evolutionary
stage of post-AGB stars and planetary nebulae (PNe) and the presence of water
masers in their envelopes.
Methods: We have used NASA's 70-m antenna in Robledo de Chavela (Spain) to
search for the water maser transition at 22235.08 MHz, towards a sample of 105
sources with IRAS colour characteristic of post-AGB stars and PNe at
declination >-32 deg. 83% of the sources in the sample are post-AGB stars, 15%
PNe or PN candidates, while only 2% seem to be HII regions.
Results: We have detected five water masers, of which four are reported for
the first time: two in PNe (IRAS 17443-2949 and IRAS 18061-2505), a ``water
fountain'' in a post-AGB star (IRAS 16552-3050), and one in a source previously
catalogued as a PN, but whose classification is uncertain (IRAS 17580-3111).
Conclusions: The unexpected detections of water masers in two objects among
the small subset of PNe led us to suggest that the PNe harbouring water masers
are a special type of massive, rapidly evolving PNe.Comment: 15 pages, 7 figures. Accepted for publication in Astronomy and
Astrophysic
An updated catalog of OH-maser-emitting planetary nebulae
Aims. We studied the characteristics of planetary nebulae (PNe) that show
both OH maser and radio continuum emission (hereafter OHPNe). These have been
proposed to be very young PNe, and therefore, they could be key objects for
understanding the formation and evolution of PNe. Methods. We consulted the
literature searching for interferometric observations of radio continuum and OH
masers toward evolved stars, including the information from several surveys. We
also processed radio continuum and OH maser observations toward PNe in the Very
Large Array data archive. The high positional accuracy provided by
interferometric observations allow us to confirm or reject the association
between OH maser and radio continuum emission. Results. We found a total of six
PNe that present both OH maser and radio continuum emissions, as confirmed with
radio interferometric observations. These are bona fide OHPNe. The confirmed
OHPNe present a bipolar morphology in resolved images of their ionized emission
at different wavelengths, suggesting that the OH maser emission in PNe is
related to nonspherical mass-loss phenomena. The OH maser spectra in PNe
present a clear asymmetry, tending to show blueshifted emission with respect to
the systemic velocity. Their infrared colors suggest that most of these objects
are very young PNe. OHPNe do not form a homogeneous group, and seem to
represent a variety of different evolutionary stages. We suggest that OH masers
pumped in the AGB phase may disappear during the post-AGB phase, but reappear
once the source becomes a PN and its radio continuum emission is amplified by
the OH molecules. Therefore, OH maser emission could last significantly longer
than the previously assumed 1000 yr after the end of the AGB phase. This maser
lifetime may be longer in PNe with more massive central stars, which ionize a
larger amount of gas in the envelope.Comment: 16 pages, 5 figures, 4 tables. Accepted for publication by Astronomy
& Astrophysic
Water maser detections in southern candidates to post-AGB stars and Planetary Nebulae
We intended to study the incidence and characteristics of water masers in the
envelopes of stars in the post-AGB and PN evolutionary stages.
We have used the 64-m antenna in Parkes (Australia) to search for water maser
emission at 22 GHz, towards a sample of 74 sources with IRAS colours
characteristic of post-AGB stars and PNe, at declination . In our
sample, 39% of the sources are PNe or PNe candidates, and 50% are post-AGB
stars or post-AGB candidates.
We have detected four new water masers, all of them in optically obscured
sources: three in PNe candidates (IRAS 12405-6219, IRAS 15103-5754, and IRAS
16333-4807); and one in a post-AGB candidate (IRAS 13500-6106). The PN
candidate IRAS 15103-5754 has water fountain characteristics, and it could be
the first PN of this class found.
We confirm the tendency suggested in Paper I that the presence of water
masers in the post-AGB phase is favoured in obscured sources with massive
envelopes. We propose an evolutionary scenario for water masers in the post-AGB
and PNe stages, in which ``water fountain'' masers could develop during
post-AGB and early PN stages. Later PNe would show lower velocity maser
emission, both along jets and close to the central objects, with only the
central masers remaining in more evolved PNe.Comment: 11 pages, 5 figures. Accepted by Astronomy and Astrophysic
VISIR-VLT Images of the Water Maser Emitting Planetary Nebula K 3-35
K3-35 is an extremely young bipolar planetary nebula that contains a
precessing bipolar jet and a small (radius 80 AU) water maser equatorial ring.
We have obtained VISIR- VLT images of K 3-35 in the PAH1 ({\lambda}=8.6
{\mu}m), [S iv] ({\lambda}=10.6 {\mu}m), and SiC ({\lambda}=11.85 {\mu}m)
filters to analize the mid-IR morphology and the temperature structure of its
dust emission. The images show the innermost nebular regions undetected at
optical wavelegths and the precessing bipolar jets. The temperature map shows
variations in the temperature in the equatorial zone and in regions associated
to its jets.Comment: 2 pages, 2 figures, 283 IAU Symp. Planetary Nebulae an Eye to the
Futur
El proceso de comprensión lectora en alumnos de tercero de secundaria
El presente artículo describe el proceso lector seguido por estudiantes de tercero de secundaria para abordar un texto con el propósito de comprenderlo. Se utilizó un método de investigación mixto secuencial cuantitativo/cualitativo. En la fase cuantitativa se seleccionó una muestra de altos y bajos lectores, que fueron observados durante la ejecución de dos tareas, mediante las cuales se evidenció el proceso que siguieron al intentar comprender diversos textos. Los datos recabados en la fase cualitativa evidenciaron que no todos los alumnos siguen el mismo camino para lograr el propósito mencionado, por lo que se presenta un modelo que muestra las diferentes rutas seguidas y se identifica un conjunto de factores que intervienen en la elección de la ruta lectora, entre ellos el pensamiento metacognitivo y las creencias acerca de la lectura. The present article describes the reading process ninth-graders follow to address a text with the purpose of understanding it. A sequential mixed quantitative/qualitative method was used. In the quantitative phase, a sample of high and low readers was selected; these readers were observed while performing two tasks, which revealed the process they followed while attempting to understand diverse texts. The data compiled in the qualitative phase showed that not all students follow the same path to attain the designated purpose. A model is presented to show the different paths followed, and a set of factors that intervene in selecting the reading path is identified. These factors include metacognitive thinking and beliefs about reading.ITESO, A.C
Radio interferometric observations of candidate water-maser-emitting planetary nebulae
We present Very Large Array (VLA) observations of H2O and OH masers, as well
as radio continuum emission at 1.3 and 18 cm toward three sources previously
cataloged as planetary nebulae (PNe) and in which single-dish detections of H2O
masers have been reported: IRAS 17443-2949, IRAS 17580-3111, and IRAS
18061-2505. Our goal was to unambiguously confirm their nature as
water-maser-emitting PNe, a class of objects of which only two bona-fide
members were previously known. We detected and mapped H2O maser emission toward
all three sources, while OH maser emission is detected in IRAS 17443-2949 and
IRAS 17580-3111 as well as in other two objects within the observed fields:
IRAS 17442-2942 (unknown nature) and IRAS 17579-3121 (also cataloged as a
possible PN). We found radio continuum emission associated only with IRAS
18061-2505. Our results confirm IRAS 18061-2505 as the third known case of a PN
associated with H2O maser emission. The three known water-maser-emitting PNe
have clear bipolar morphologies, which suggests that water maser emission in
these objects is related to non-spherical mass-loss episodes. We speculate that
these bipolar PNe would have ``water-fountain'' Asymptotic Giant Branch (AGB)
and post-AGB stars as their precursors. A note of caution is given for other
objects that have been classified as OHPNe (objects with both OH maser and
radio continuum emission, that could be extremely young PNe) based on
single-dish observations, since interferometric data of both OH masers and
continuum are necessary for a proper identification as members of this class.Comment: 33 pages, 10 figures. Accepted by The Astronomical Journa
VISIR-VLT high resolution study of the extended emission of four obscured post-AGB candidates
The onset of the asymmetry of planetary nebulae (PNe) is expected to occur
during the late Asymptotic Giant Branch (AGB) and early post-AGB phases of low-
and intermediate-mass stars. Among all post-AGB objects, the most heavily
obscured ones might have escaped the selection criteria of previous studies
detecting extreme axysimmetric structures in young PNe. Since the most heavily
obscured post-AGB sources can be expected to descend from the most massive PN
progenitors, these should exhibit clear asymmetric morphologies. We have
obtained VISIR-VLT mid-IR images of four heavily obscured post-AGB objects
barely resolved in previous Spitzer IRAC observations to analyze their
morphology and physical conditions across the mid-IR. The VISIR-VLT images have
been deconvolved, flux calibrated, and used to construct RGB composite pictures
as well as color and optical depth maps that allow us to study the morphology
and physical properties of the extended emission of these sources. We have
detected extended emission from the four objects in our sample and resolved it
into several structural components that are greatly enhanced in the temperature
and optical depth maps. They reveal the presence of asymmetry in three young
PNe (IRAS 15534-5422, IRAS 17009-4154, and IRAS 18454+0001), where the
asymmetries can be associated with dusty torii and slightly bipolar outflows.
The fourth source (IRAS 18229-1127), a possible post-AGB star, is better
described as a rhomboidal detached shell. The heavily obscured sources in our
sample do not show extreme axisymmetric morphologies. This is at odds with the
expectation of highly asymmetrical morphologies in post-AGB sources descending
from massive PN progenitors. The sources presented in this paper may be
sampling critical early phases in the evolution of massive PN progenitors,
before extreme asymmetries develop.Comment: 9 pages, 4 figure
CCS and NH_3 Emission Associated with Low-Mass Young Stellar Objects
In this work we present a sensitive and systematic single-dish survey of CCS emission (complemented with ammonia observations) at 1 cm, toward a sample of low- and intermediate-mass young star-forming regions known to harbor water maser emission, made with NASA's 70 m antenna at Robledo de Chavela, Spain. Out of the 40 star-forming regions surveyed in the CCS (2_(1)-1_(0)) line, only six low-mass sources show CCS emission: one transitional object between the prestellar and protostellar Class 0 phase (GF9-2), three Class 0 protostars (L1448-IRS3, L1448C, and B1-IRS), a Class I source (L1251A), and a young T Tauri star (NGC 2071 North). Since CCS is considered an "early-time" (≲10^5 yr) molecule, we explain these results by either proposing a revision of the classification of the age of NGC 2071 North and L1251A, or suggesting the possibility that the particular physical conditions and processes of each source affect the destruction/production of the CCS. No statistically significant relationship was found between the presence of CCS and parameters of the molecular outflows and their driving sources. Nevertheless, we found a significant relationship between the detectability of CCS and the ammonia peak intensity (higher in regions with CCS), but not with its integrated intensity. This tendency may suggest that the narrower ammonia line widths in the less turbulent medium associated with younger cores may compensate for the differences in ammonia peak intensity, rendering differences in integrated intensity negligible. From the CCS detection rate we derive a lifetime of this molecule of ≃(0.7-3) × 10^4 yr in low-mass star-forming regions
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