SiO Maser Survey toward the Inner Galactic Disk: 40 < l < 70 and |b| < 10

We present the results of an SiO maser survey for color-selected IRAS sources in the area 40 < l < 70 and |b| < 10 in the SiO J=1-0, v=1 and 2 transitions. We detected 134 out of 272 observed sources in SiO masers; 127 were new detections. A systematic difference in the detection rates between SiO and OH maser searches was found. Especially, in the color ranges with log(F_{25}/F_{12}) smaller than -0.1, the detection rate of the SiO masers is significantly higher than that of OH masers. We found a possible kinematic influence of the galactic arm on the distribution of SiO maser sources. It was found that the velocity dispersion of SiO maser sources tends to decrease with the galactocentric distance. Using the present and previous data of SiO maser surveys, we found that the local velocity gradient of the rotational velocity of the Galaxy is consistent with the values obtained from other kinds of disk population stars within a statistical uncertainty. The Oort's constants, "A" and "B", were computed from the gradient of the rotation curve for the present data, and were consistent with the IAU standard values. In addition, in order to check the reliability of IRAS positions, we observed toward the MSX positions for 5 MSX counterparts, which are located more than 20" away (but within 60") from IRAS positions. We detected all of these 5 sources in SiO masers.Comment: 45 pages, 11 figures, accepted by PASJ. Version with full resolution figures is available from http://www.nro.nao.ac.jp/library/report/list.htm

BIMA Array Observations of the Highly Unusual SiO Maser Source with a Bipolar Nebulosity, IRAS 19312+1950

We report the results of mapping observations of the bipolar nebula with SiO maser emission, IRAS 19312+1950, in the CO (J=1-0 and J=2-1), 13CO (J=1-0 and J=2-1), C18O (J=1-0), CS (J=2-1), SO (J_K=3_2-2_1) and HCO+ (J=3-2) lines with the Berkeley-Illinois-Maryland Association array. Evolutional status of this source has been evoking a controversy since its discovery, though SiO maser sources are usually identified as late-type stars with active mass loss. In line profiles, two kinematical components are found as reported in previous single-dish observations: a broad pedestal component and a narrow component. Spatio-kinetic properties of a broad component region traced by 12CO lines are roughly explained by a simple spherical outflow model with a typical expanding velocity of an AGB star, though some properties of the broad component region still conflict with properties of a typical AGB spherical outflow. A narrow component region apparently exhibits a bipolar flow. The angular size of the narrow component region is spatially larger than that of a broad component region. Intensity distribution of the CS emission avoids the central region of the source, and that of an SO broad component emission exhibits a small feature peaked exactly at the mapping center. According to the present results, if a broad component really originates in a spherical outflow, an oxygen-rich evolved stellar object seems to be a natural interpretation for the central star of IRAS 19312+1950.Comment: 27 pages, 11 figures; accepted for publication in Ap

Observations of SiO Maser Sources within a Few Parsec from the Galactic Center

Mapping and monitoring observations of SiO maser sources near the Galactic center were made with the Nobeyama 45-m telescope at 43 GHz. Rectangular mapping an area of approximately 200'' x 100''$ in a 30'' grid, and triangular mapping in a 20'' grid toward the Galactic center, resulted in 15 detections of SiO sources; the positions of the sources were obtained with errors of 5--10'', except for a few weak sources. Three-year monitoring observations found that the component at V_lsr=-27 km/s of IRS 10 EE flared to about 1.5 Jy during 2000 March--May, which was a factor of more than 5 brighter than its normal intensity. Using the radial velocities and positions of the SiO sources, we identified 5 which are counterparts of previously observed OH 1612 MHz sources. The other 10 SiO sources have no OH counterparts, but two were previously detected with VLA, and four are located close to the positions of large-amplitude variables observed at near-infrared wavelengths. A least-squares fit to a plot of velocities versus Galactic longitudes gives a rather high speed for the rotation of the star cluster around the Galactic center. The observed radial-velocity dispersion is roughly consistent with a value obtained before. It was found that all of the SiO sources with OH 1612 MHz counterparts have periods of light variation longer than 450 days, while SiO sources without OH masers often have periods shorter than 450 days. This fact suggests that lower-mass AGB stars are more often detected in SiO masers than in the OH 1612 MHz line.Comment: 9 pages, 7 figures. PASJ 54, No. 1 (2002) in pres

Detection of Bipolar Flow toward an Unusual SiO Maser Source IRAS 19312+1950

We report a result of an interferometric observation toward an SiO maser source, IRAS 19312+1950, in the HCO+ J=1-0 line with the Berkeley-Illinois-Maryland-Association (BIMA) Millimeter Array. In the spatially integrated spectrum of HCO+, two kinematic components were seen: a strong line with a narrow width (~2 km/s, narrow component), and a weak symmetric line with a broad width (~60 km/s, broad component). The line profile of HCO+ are reminiscent of that of CO. In the integrated intensity map, we found a pronounced bipolar shape consisting of lower-velocity parts of the broad component. The higher-velocity part of the broad component originated in a relatively small region (< 3"). The spatial structure of the narrow component clearly correlated with near-infrared structure. The position-velocity diagrams indicated presence of a bipolar outflow with an expansion velocity of about 10 km/s. On the basis of the present results, we suggest that the nature of the bipolar flow seen in IRAS 19312+1950 is explained by hydrodynamical interaction between an AGB wind and ambient material with axial symmetric structure.Comment: 11 pages, 3 figures, accepted for publication in ApJ

Detections of SiO and H2_2O Masers in the Bipolar Nebula IRAS 19312+1950

We report on the detection of SiO and water masers toward a newly found bipolar nebula, IRAS 19312+1950. This object exhibits extreme red IRAS color log (F25/F12)=0.5 and log (F60/F25)=0.7 and a nebulosity having a size of about 30" extended to the South-West in the 2MASS near-infrared image. Toward this object, we have detected emission from the H2O 6(1,6)-5(2,3) transition, the SiO J=1-0, v=1 and 2, and J=2-1, v=1 transitions, and the SO 2(2)--1(1) and H13CN J=1-0 transitions. The thermal lines of SO and H13CN are shifted by about 12 km/s in radial velocity with respect to the maser lines, indicating that thermal emission comes from the background molecular cloud. However, the SiO J=2-1, v=2 spectrum shows another component of SiO emission separated by 26 km/s from the main component, that might be formed in a rotating or expanding shell.Comment: 5 peges including 1 table, and 2 jpeg figures. Accepted for PASJ (Publication of the Astronomical Society of Japan

SiO Maser Survey of Cold IRAS Sources

We present the results of observations of cold IRAS sources in the Galactic disk area, -10 < l < 100 and |b|<5, in the SiO J=1-0, v=1 and 2 maser lines. SiO masers were detected in 51 out of 143 observed sources; 45 were new detections in SiO masers. The selected IRAS sources were objects with dust temperatures of between 160 and 280 K. According to a confirmation using 2MASS near-infrared images, a majority of the sample are AGB or post-AGB stars, although dense cores in the star-forming regions (or dusty HII regions) are involved in part of the sample. Among new detections, two were candidates for post-AGB stars: IRAS 18450-0148 (W 43A), and 19312+1950. We found that the intensity ratios of the SiO J= 1-0, v=2 to the v=1 line of the objects clearly correlate with those IRAS colors. The detection rates of SiO masers tend to increase toward the Galactic center as well as the cases of previous SiO maser surveys of typical AGB stars. No strong associations of the objects to the spiral arms were found. The radial-velocity dispersion of the present sample is comparable with the dispersion of the SiO maser sample of typical AGB stars. These facts suggest that the present sample of cold IRAS sources with SiO masers has a kinematic property very similar with that of typical AGB stars.Comment: 45 pages, 11 figures, accepted by PASJ. Version with full resolution figures is available from http://www.nro.nao.ac.jp/library/report/list.htm

The spatiokinematical structure of H_2O and OH masers in the "water fountain" source IRAS 18460-0151

Using the Very Long Baseline Array and the European VLBI Network, we have observed 22.2 GHz H_2O and 1612 MHz OH masers in the "water fountain" source IRAS 18460-0151. The H_2O maser spectrum has a very wide line-of-sight velocity range (~310 km/s) and consists of three groups of emission features at the blue-shifted (-68 km/s <~ V_LSR <~ -17 km/s) and red-shifted (V_LSR ~= 240 km/s) edges as well as around the systemic velocity (112 km/s <~ V_LSR <~ 133 km/s). The first two H_2O spectral components exhibit a highly-collimated high-velocity bipolar jet on the sky, with an angular separation of ~120 milliarcseconds (mas) (240 AU in linear length) and a three-dimensional flow velocity of ~160 km/s. The flow dynamical age is estimated to be only ~6 yr (at the time of the observation epochs of 2006--2007). Interestingly, the systemic velocity component clearly exhibits a spherically-expanding outflow with a radius of ~36 AU and a flow velocity of ~9 km/s. On the other hand, the OH maser spectrum shows double peaks with a velocity separation of ~25 km/s (V_LSR=$111--116 and 138--141 km/s), as typically seen in circumstellar envelopes of OH/IR stars. The angular offset between the velocity-integrated brightness peaks of the two high-velocity H_2O components is ~25 mas (50 AU). The offset direction and the alignment of the red-shifted maser spots are roughly perpendicular to the axis of the H_2O maser flow. High-accuracy astrometry for the H_2O and OH masers demonstrates that the collimated fast jet and the slowly expanding outflow originate from a single or multiple sources which are located within 15 mas (30 AU). On the other hand, the estimated systemic velocity of the collimated jet (V_sys ~87--113 km/s) has a large uncertainty. This makes it difficult to provide strong constraints on models of the central stellar system of IRAS 18460-0151.Comment: 25 pages, 5 figures, 8 tables, accepted for publication in Ap

SiO maser observations of a wide dust-temperature range sample

We present the results of SiO line observations of a sample of known SiO maser sources covering a wide dust-temperature range. The aim of the present research is to investigate the causes of the correlation between infrared colors and SiO maser intensity ratios among different transition lines. We observed in total 75 SiO maser sources with the Nobeyama 45m telescope quasi-simultaneously in the SiO J=1-0 v=0, 1, 2, 3, 4 and J=2-1 v=1, 2 lines. We also observed the sample in the 29SiO J=1-0 v=0 and J=2-1 v=0, and 30SiO J=1-0 v=0 lines, and the H2O 6(1,6)-5(2,3) line. As reported in previous papers, we confirmed that the intensity ratios of the SiO J=1-0 v=2 to v=1 lines clearly correlate with infrared colors. In addition, we found possible correlation between infrared colors and the intensity ratios of the SiO J=1-0 v=3 to v=1&2 lines.Comment: 5 pages, 2 figures, iaus.cls, to appear in IAU Symp. 242 proceedings (Astrophysical masers and their environments

Do Water Fountain Jets Really Indicate the Onset of the Morphological Metamorphosis of Circumstellar Envelopes?

The small-scale bipolar jets having short dynamical ages from "water fountain (WF)" sources are regarded as an indication of the onset of circumstellar envelope morphological metamorphosis of intermediate-mass stars. Such process usually happens at the end of the asymptotic giant branch (AGB) phase. However, recent studies found that WFs could be AGB stars or even early planetary nebulae. This fact prompted the idea that WFs may not necessarily be objects at the beginning of the morphological transition process. In the present work, we show that WFs could have different envelope morphologies by studying their spectral energy distribution profiles. Some WFs have spherical envelopes that resembles usual AGB stars, while others have aspherical envelopes which are more common to post-AGB stars. The results imply that WFs may not represent the earliest stage of the morphological metamorphosis. We further argue that the dynamical age of a WF jet, which can be calculated from maser proper motions, may not be the real age of the jet. The dynamical age cannot be used to justify the moment when the envelope begins to become aspherical, nor to tell the concrete evolutionary status of the object. A WF jet could be the innermost part of a larger well-developed jet, which is not necessarily a young jet.Comment: 21 pages, 4 figures, accepted for publication in MNRA