92 research outputs found
A Proper Motion Study of the Haro 6-10 Outflow: Evidence for a Subarcsecond Binary
We present single-dish and VLBI observations of an outburst of water maser
emission from the young binary system Haro 6-10. Haro 6-10 lies in the Taurus
molecular cloud and contains a visible T Tauri star with an infrared companion
1.3" north. Using the Very Long Baseline Array, we obtained five observations
spanning 3 months and derived absolute positions for 20 distinct maser spots.
Three of the masers can be traced over 3 or more epochs, enabling us to extract
absolute proper motions and tangential velocities. We deduce that the masers
represent one side of a bipolar outflow that lies nearly in the plane of the
sky with an opening angle of ~45\deg. They are located within 50 mas of the
southern component of the binary, the visible T Tauri star Haro 6-10S. The mean
position angle on the sky of the maser proper motions (~220\deg) suggests they
are related to the previously observed giant Herbig-Haro (HH) flow which
includes HH410, HH411, HH412, and HH184A-E. A previously observed HH jet and
extended radio continuum emission (mean position angle of ~190\deg) must also
originate in the vicinity of Haro6-10S and represent a second, distinct outflow
in this region. We propose that a yet unobserved companion within 150 mas of
Haro6-10S is responsible for the giant HH/maser outflow while the visible star
is associated with the HH jet. Despite the presence of H_2 emission in the
spectrum of the northern component of the binary, Haro6-10N, none of
outflows/jets can be tied directly to this young stellar object
MSX versus IRAS Two-Color Diagrams and the CSE-Sequence of Oxygen-Rich Late-Type Stars
We present MSX two-color diagrams that can be used to characterize
circumstellar environments of sources with good quality MSX colors in terms of
IRAS color regions for oxygen-rich stars. With these diagrams we aim to provide
a new tool that can be used to study circumstellar environments and to improve
detection rates for targeted surveys for circumstellar maser emission similar
to the IRAS two-color diagram. This new tool is especially useful for regions
in the sky where IRAS was confused, in particular in the Galactic plane and
bulge region. Unfortunately, using MSX colors alone does not allow to
distinguish between carbon-rich and oxygen-rich objects. An application of this
tool on 86 GHz SiO masers shows that for this type of masers an instantaneous
detection rate of 60% to 80% can be achieved if target sources are selected
according to MSX color (region).
Our investigations may have revealed an error in the MSX point source catalog
version 2.3. That is, the photometry of the 21.3 m (MSX E filter) band for
most weak 8.28 m (or MSX A filter) band sources seems off by about a
factor two (0.5--1 magnitude too bright).Comment: accepted to Astrophysical Journal, 11 pages, 11 figs of which 1 in
colo
Excited-state OH Mainline Masers in AU Geminorum and NML Cygni
Excited-state OH maser emission has previously been reported in the
circumstellar envelopes of only two evolved stars: the Mira star AU Geminorum
and the hypergiant NML Cygni. We present Very Large Array (VLA) observations of
the 1665, 1667, and excited-state 4750 MHz mainline OH transitions in AU Gem
and Expanded Very Large Array (EVLA) observations of the excited-state 6030 and
6035 MHz OH mainline transitions in NML Cyg. We detect masers in both mainline
transitions in AU Gem but no excited-state emission in either star. We conclude
that the excited-state OH emission in AU Gem is either a transient phenomenon
(such as for NML Cyg outlined below), or possibly an artifact in the data, and
that the excited state OH emission in NML Cyg was generated by an episode of
enhanced shock between the stellar mass-loss and an outflow of the Cyg OB2
association. With these single exceptions, it therefore appears that
excited-state OH emission indeed should not be predicted nor observable in
evolved stars as part of their normal structure or evolution.Comment: ApJ Letter, accepted, 4 pages, 2 figure
Time-Resolved AU-Scale Jets Traced by Masers in the IRAS 4A/B Regions of NGC1333
We present results of VLBI observations of the water masers associated with
IRAS 4A and IRAS 4B in the NGC 1333 star-forming region taken in four epochs
over a two month period. Both objects have been classified as extremely young
sources and each source is known to be a multiple system. Using the Very Long
Baseline Array, we detected 35 masers in Epoch I, 40 masers in Epoch II, 35 in
Epoch III, and 24 in Epoch IV. Only one identified source in each system
associates with these masers. These data are used to calculate proper motions
for the masers and trace the jet outflows within 100 AU of IRAS 4A2 and IRAS
4BW. In IRAS 4A2 there are two groups of masers, one near the systemic cloud
velocity and one red-shifted. They expand linearly away from each other at
velocities of 53 km/s. In IRAS 4BW, masers are observed in two groups that are
blue-shifted and red-shifted relative to the cloud velocity. They form complex
linear structures with a thickness of 3 mas (1 AU at a distance of 320 pc) that
expand linearly away from each other at velocities of 78 km/s. Neither of the
jet outflows traced by the maser groups align with the larger scale outflows.
We suggest the presence of unresolved companions to both IRAS 4A2 and 4BW.Comment: Accepted by Ap
A VLA Search for Water Masers in Six HII Regions: Tracers of Triggered Low-Mass Star Formation
We present a search for water maser emission at 22 GHz associated with young
low-mass protostars in six HII regions -- M16, M20, NGC 2264, NGC 6357, S125,
and S140. The survey was conducted with the NRAO Very Large Array from 2000 to
2002. For several of these HII regions, ours are the first high-resolution
observations of water masers. We detected 16 water masers: eight in M16, four
in M20, three in S140, and one in NGC 2264. All but one of these were
previously undetected. No maser emission was detected from NGC 6357 or S125.
There are two principle results to our study. (1) The distribution of water
masers in M16 and M20 does not appear to be random but instead is concentrated
in a layer of compressed gas within a few tenths of a parsec of the ionization
front. (2) Significantly fewer masers are seen in the observed fields than
expected based on other indications of ongoing star formation, indicating that
the maser-exciting lifetime of protostars is much shorter in HII regions than
in regions of isolated star formation. Both of these results confirm
predictions of a scenario in which star formation is first triggered by shocks
driven in advance of ionization fronts, and then truncated approximately 10^5
years later when the region is overrun by the ionization front.Comment: 30 pages, 20 figures, 3 tables. Accepted for publication by ApJ. Full
resolution figures and PS and PDF versions with full-res figures available at
http://eagle.la.asu.edu/healy/preprints/hhc0
- …