Mid-Infrared Hydrogen Recombination Line Emission From the Maser Star MWC 349A

Details Mid-Infrared Hydrogen Recombination Line Emission From the Maser Star MWC 349A Mid-Infrared Hydrogen Recombination Line Emission From the Maser Star MWC 349A

Dec 1997

adsabs.harvard.edu/cgi-bin/nph-data_query?bibcode=1997aj....114.2658s&link_type=abstract

Astronomical Journal v.114, p.2658

Astronomy and Astrophysics

Astronomy

4

Masers, Stars, Individual: Mwc 349A, Radio Lines: Stars

Scientific paper

We have detected and spectrally resolved the mid-IR hydrogen recombination lines H6α (12.372 μm), H7α (19.062 μm), H7β (11.309 μm), and H8γ (12.385 μm) from the star MWC 349A. This object has strong hydrogen maser emission reported in the millimeter and submillimeter hydrogen recombination lines from H36α to H2lα, and laser emission seen in the H15α H12α and H10α lines. The lasers/masers are thought to arise predominantly in a Keplerian disk around the star. The mid-IR lines we measure do not show evident signs of lasing, and can be adequately modeled as arising from the strong stellar wind, with a component arising from a quasi-static atmosphere around the disk, similar to what is hypothesized for the near-IR (≤4 μm) recombination lines. Since population inversions are expected to exist in the levels producing these mid-IR transitions, even at electron densities where they could produce significant amplification (from l08 even up to 1011 cm-3), our results imply that the disk does not contain such high-density ionized gas over long enough path lengths to produce a gain ≥1. More modest laser emission might be present from smaller zones, for example, from high-density clumps within the disk, but is minor compared to the spontaneous background line emission from the rest of the source. The results reinforce the interpretation of the three reported far-IR lines as true lasers.

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