OH maser emission in the THOR survey of the northern Milky Way
Journal article, 2019

Context. OH masers trace diverse physical processes, from the expanding envelopes around evolved stars to star-forming regions or supernovae remnants. Providing a survey of the ground-state OH maser transitions in the northern hemisphere inner Milky Way facilitates the study of a broad range of scientific topics. Aims. We want to identify the ground-state OH masers at similar to 18 cm wavelength in the area covered by The HI/OH/Recombination line survey of the Milky Way (THOR). We will present a catalogue of all OH maser features and their possible associated environments. Methods. The THOR survey covers longitude and latitude ranges of 14 degrees.3 < l < 66 degrees.8 and b < +/- 1 degrees.25. All OH ground state lines (2)Pi(3/2) (J = 3/2) at 1612 (F = 1-2), 1665 (F = 1-1), 1667 (F = 2-2) and 1720 MHz (F = 2-1) have been observed, employing the Very Large Array (VLA) in its C configuration. The spatial resolution of the data varies between 12.5 '' and 19 '', the spectral resolution is 1.5 km s(-1), and the rms sensitivity of the data is similar to 10 mJy beam(-1) per channel. Results. We identify 1585 individual maser spots (corresponding to single spectral features) distributed over 807 maser sites (regions of size similar to 10(3)-10(4) AU). Based on different criteria from spectral profiles to literature comparison, we try to associate the maser sites with astrophysical source types. Approximately 51% of the sites exhibit the double-horned 1612 MHz spectra typically emitted from the expanding shells of evolved stars. The separations of the two main velocity features of the expanding shells typically vary between 22 and 38 km s(-1). In addition to this, at least 20% of the maser sites are associated with star-forming regions. While the largest fraction of 1720 MHz maser spots (21 out of 53) is associated with supernova remnants, a significant fraction of the 1720 MHz maser spots (17) are also associated with star-forming regions. We present comparisons to the thermal (CO)-C-13(1-0) emission as well as to other surveys of class II CH3OH and H2O maser emission. The catalogue attempts to present associations to astrophysical sources where available, and the full catalogue is available in electronic form. Conclusions. This OH maser catalogue presents a unique resource of stellar and interstellar masers in the northern hemisphere. It provides the basis for a diverse range of follow-up studies from envelopes around evolved stars to star-forming regions and Supernova remnants.

stars: evolution

stars: formation

ISM: kinematics and dynamics

masers

ISM: clouds

catalogs

Author

H. Beuther

Max Planck Society

A. Walsh

Macquarie University

Y. Wang

Max Planck Society

M. Rugel

Max Planck Society

J. Soler

Max Planck Society

H. Linz

Max Planck Society

R. S. Klessen

Heidelberg University

L. D. Anderson

West Virginia University

Green Bank Observatory

J. S. Urquhart

University Of Kent

S. C. O. Glover

Heidelberg University

S. J. Billington

University Of Kent

Jouni Kainulainen

Chalmers, Space, Earth and Environment, Astronomy and Plasmaphysics

K. M. Menten

Max Planck Society

N. Roy

Indian Institute of Science

S. N. Longmore

Liverpool John Moores University

F. Bigiel

University of Bonn

Astronomy and Astrophysics

0004-6361 (ISSN) 1432-0746 (eISSN)

Vol. 628 A90

Subject Categories

Astronomy, Astrophysics and Cosmology

Geophysics

Geosciences, Multidisciplinary

DOI

10.1051/0004-6361/201935936

More information

Latest update

6/24/2021