Discovery of Interstellar Water Masers at 437, 439, and 471 GHz

Astronomy and Astrophysics – Astronomy

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Scientific paper

We report the first astronomical detections of the 753-660, 643-550, and the 642-551 transitions of water vapor (H_2O) at frequencies near 437, 439, and 471 GHz, respectively. Using the Caltech Submillimeter Observatory we detected the 439 and 471 GHz lines toward a number of star-forming regions and the 437, 439, and 471 GHz lines toward several oxygen-rich evolved stars. Maser action is likely present in all of these lines. The previously detected 325 GHz 515-422 H_2O maser line was also observed toward these sources. Assuming that these transitions are collisionally pumped, as is almost certainly the case for the water masers in star-forming regions, the luminosity ratios of these newly discovered masers along with the 325 GHz maser line clearly indicate that the gas temperatures within the masing region is >=800 K. This finding is inconsistent with the models that predict that masers form behind fast (>= 50 km/s) dissociative shocks. Instead, these new data suggest that slow (<= 50 km/s) nondissociative shocks are a more probable source for the maser emission we observe.

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