First VLBA observations of 28SiO J=1-0, v=3 maser emission from AGB stars

Paper in proceeding, 2014

The v=1 & v=2 J=1-0 (43 GHz), and v=1 J=2-1 (86 GHz) SiO masers are intense in AGB stars. They have been mapped using VLBI displaying spots ring-like distributions. The rings of the v=1, v=2 J=1-0 masers are similar, but the spots are rarely coincident, while the v=1 J=2-1 maser arises from a well separated region farther out. The v=3 J=1-0 line is not directly affected by any line overlap and its spot structure and position, relative to the other lines, is a good test to the standard pumping models. We present simultaneous single dish and VLBI observations of the v=1, v=2, and v=3 J=1-0 maser transitions of 28SiO in several AGB stars and compare them to model predictions. © Copyright owned by the author(s) under the terms of the Creative Commons Attribution-NonCommercial-ShareAlike Licence.