3,757 research outputs found
Water Maser Emission from the Active Nucleus in M51
22 GHz water vapor `kilomaser' emission is reported from the central region
of the Whirlpool galaxy M 51 (NGC 5194). The red-shifted spectral features
(Vlsr ~ 560 km/s), flaring during most of the year 2000, originate from a
spatially unresolved maser spot of size < 30 mas (< 1.5 pc), displaced by < 250
mas from the nucleus. The data provide the first direct evidence for the
association of an H2O kilomaser with an active galactic nucleus (AGN). In early
2001, blue-shifted maser emission (Vlsr ~ 435 km/s) was also detected. Red- and
blue-shifted features bracket the systemic velocity asymmetrically. Within the
standard model of a rotating Keplerian torus, this may either suggest the
presence of a highly eccentric circumnuclear cloud or red- and blue-shifted
`high velocity' emission from a radially extended torus. Most consistent with
the measured H2O position is, however, an association of the red-shifted H2O
emission with the northern part of the bipolar radio jet. In this scenario, the
(weaker) northern jet is receding while the blue-shifted H2O emission is
associated with the approaching southern jet.Comment: 9 pages, 1 figur
The Discovery of Water Maser Emission from Eight Nearby Galaxies
Using the Green Bank Telescope, we conducted a ``snapshot'' survey for water
maser emission toward the nuclei of 611 galaxies and detected eight new
sources. The sample consisted of nearby (v < 5000 km/s) and luminous (M_B <
-19.5) galaxies, some with known nuclear activity but most not previously known
to host AGNs. Our detections include both megamasers associated with AGNs and
relatively low luminosity masers probably associated with star formation. The
detection in UGC 3789 is particularly intriguing because the spectrum shows
both systemic and high-velocity lines indicative of emission from an AGN
accretion disk seen edge-on. Based on six months of monitoring, we detected
accelerations among the systemic features ranging from 2 to 8 km/s/yr, the
larger values belonging to the most redshifted systemic components.
High-velocity maser lines in UGC 3789 show no detectable drift over the same
period. Although UGC 3789 was not known to be an AGN prior to this survey, the
presence of a disk maser is strong evidence for nuclear activity, and an
optical spectrum obtained later has confirmed it. With follow up observations,
it may be possible to measure a geometric distance to UGC 3789.Comment: to appear in Astrophysical Journal, 1 May 200
- …