New interstellar masers in nonmetastable ammonia

Astronomy and Astrophysics – Astrophysics

Scientific paper

Rate now

  [ 0.00 ] – not rated yet Voters 0   Comments 0

Details

55

Ammonia, Astronomical Spectroscopy, Interstellar Masers, Electron Transitions, Emission Spectra, H Ii Regions, Molecular Spectra

Scientific paper

The first astronomical detections of several ammonia inversion transitions involving nonmetastable levels with energies as high as 1090 K above the ground state are reported. The (J, K) = (9, 6) inversion transition shows maser-like emission in the directions of W51, NGC 7538, W49, and DR 21(OH). The NH3 (6, 3) line exhibits similar characteristics in W51 but is seen in absorption in NGC 7538. These are the first definite detections of ammonia masers in space. The intensities and narrow line widths (0.5-1.5 km/s) for the emission features are in contrast to the previously detected broad, weak, nonmetastable lines attributed to thermal emission in these sources. Temporal variability appears to be evident in the (9, 6) emission in W49 over a 4 month period. The highly excited (J, K) = (9, 6) and (6, 3) ammonia lines are found in regions containig compact H II regions and strongly infrared sources with associated H2O and OH masers; i.e., in regions of active star formation.

No associations

LandOfFree

Say what you really think

Search LandOfFree.com for scientists and scientific papers. Rate them and share your experience with other people.

Rating

New interstellar masers in nonmetastable ammonia does not yet have a rating. At this time, there are no reviews or comments for this scientific paper.

If you have personal experience with New interstellar masers in nonmetastable ammonia, we encourage you to share that experience with our LandOfFree.com community. Your opinion is very important and New interstellar masers in nonmetastable ammonia will most certainly appreciate the feedback.

Rate now

     

Profile ID: LFWR-SCP-O-1844738

  Search
All data on this website is collected from public sources. Our data reflects the most accurate information available at the time of publication.