63 research outputs found
Distance to G14.33-0.64 in the Sagittarius Spiral Arm: H2O Maser Trigonometric Parallax with VERA
We report on trigonometric parallax measurements for the Galactic star
forming region G14.33-0.64 toward the Sagittarius spiral arm. We conducted
multi-epoch phase-referencing observations of an H2O maser source in
G14.33-0.64 with the Japanese VLBI array VERA. We successfully detected a
parallax of 0.893+/-0.101 mas, corresponding to a source distance of
1.12+/-0.13 kpc, which is less than half of the kinematic distance for
G14.33-0.64. Our new distance measurement demonstrates that the Sagittarius arm
lies at a closer distance of ~1 kpc, instead of previously assumed ~2-3 kpc
from kinematic distances. The previously suggested deviation of the Sagittarius
arm toward the Galactic center from the symmetrically fitted model (Taylor &
Cordes 1993) is likely due to large errors of kinematic distances at low
galactic longitudes. G14.33-0.64 most likely traces the near side of the
Sagittarius arm. We attempted fitting the pitch angle of the arm with other
parallax measurements along the arm, which yielded two possible pitch angles of
i=34.7+/-2.7 degrees and i=11.2+/-10.5 degrees. Our proper motion measurements
suggest G14.33-0.64 has no significant peculiar motion relative to the
differential rotation of the Galaxy (assumed to be in a circular orbit),
indicating that the source motion is in good agreement with the Galactic
rotation.Comment: 14 pages, 7 figures, to appear in PASJ Vol. 62, No.
Outer Rotation Curve of the Galaxy with VERA I: Trigonometric parallax of IRAS 05168+3634
We report measurement of trigonometric parallax of IRAS 05168+3634 with VERA.
The parallax is 0.532 +/- 0.053 mas, corresponding to a distance of
1.88+0.21/-0.17 kpc. This result is significantly smaller than the previous
distance estimate of 6 kpc based on kinematic distance. This drastic change in
the source distance revises not only physical parameters of IRAS 05168+3634,
but also its location of the source, placing it in the Perseus arm rather than
the Outer arm. We also measure proper motions of the source. A combination of
the distance and the proper motions with systemic velocity yields rotation
velocity ({\Theta}) of 227+9/-11 km s-1 at the source, assuming {\Theta}0 = 240
km s-1. Our result combined with previous VLBI results for six sources in the
Perseus arm indicates that the sources rotate systematically slower than the
Galactic rotation velocity at the LSR. In fact, we show observed disk peculiar
motions averaged over the seven sources in the Perseus arm as (Umean, Vmean) =
(11 +/- 3, -17 +/- 3) km s-1, indicating that these seven sources are
systematically moving toward the Galactic center, and lag behind the Galactic
rotation.Comment: 11 pages, 4 figures and 6 tables, accepted for the publication in
PAS
Positional Coincidence of H2O Maser and a Plasma Obscuring Torus in Radio Galaxy NGC 1052
We present multi-frequency simultaneous VLBA observations at 15, 22 and 43
GHz towards the nucleus of the nearby radio galaxy NGC 1052. These three
continuum images reveal a double-sided jet structure, whose relative intensity
ratios imply that the jet axis is oriented close to the sky plane. The steeply
rising spectra at 15-43 GHz at the inner edges of the jets strongly suggest
that synchrotron emission is absorbed by foreground thermal plasma. We detected
H2O maser emission in the velocity range of 1550-1850 km/s, which is redshifted
by 50-350 km/s with respect to the systemic velocity of NGC 1052. The
redshifted maser gas appears projected against both sides of the jet, in the
same manner as the HI seen in absorption. The H2O maser gas are located where
the free-free absorption opacity is large. This probably imply that the masers
in NGC 1052 are associated with a circumnuclear torus or disk as in the nucleus
of NGC 4258. Such circumnuclear structure can be the sence of accreting onto
the central engine.Comment: 18 pages, 7 figures, accepted for publication in Ap
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