The association between galactic H2O masers and IRAS sources from the Point Source Catalog (Cat. II/125) is established for 442 sources out of a list of 505 objects, which includes all the galactic H2O masers north of 30{deg}, known up to 1988. Using a multivariate statistical analysis on the four far-IR fluxes of the associated IRAS source, galactic H2O masers are reclassified into two classes: those associated to star forming regions (SFR, 52%) and those associated to late type stars (STAR, 45%). The remaining 3% cannot be included in either class. The present classification is compared with others in the literature. Distances for a large subsample of 1120 masers are derived, using the galactic rotation curve for SFR and literature data for STAR.The parameters of the H2O maser emission (e.g. integrated flux, luminosity, variability), collected in a homogeneous way in the Arcetri H2O atlas (Comoretto et al. 1990A&AS...84..179C), and those of the associated IRAS sources (e.g. flux density, luminosity, colours) are used to investigate, in a statistical way, the properties of the STAR and SFR classes. In particular, we investigate the spatial distribution of masers both in the galactic plane and perpendicular to it. We also compare the H2O and IRAS luminosities, finding a good correlation. Moreover, we find that high luminosity sources show low colour temperatures and vice versa. The spectral profile and variability are then investigated by different means. Finally, the luminosity function for each maser class is derived.
The relations between star formation and properties of molecular clouds (MCs) are studied based on a sample of star-forming regions in the Galactic Plane. Sources were selected by having radio recombination lines to provide identification of associated MCs and dense clumps. Radio continuum emission and mid-infrared emission were used to determine star formation rates (SFRs), while ^13^CO and submillimeter dust continuum emission were used to obtain the masses of molecular and dense gas, respectively. We test whether total molecular gas or dense gas provides the best predictor of SFR. We also test two specific theoretical models, one relying on the molecular mass divided by the free-fall time, the other using the free-fall time divided by the crossing time. Neither is supported by the data. The data are also compared to those from nearby star-forming regions and extragalactic data. The star formation "efficiency," defined as SFR divided by mass, spreads over a large range when the mass refers to molecular gas; the standard deviation of the log of the efficiency decreases by a factor of three when the mass of relatively dense molecular gas is used rather than the mass of all of the molecular gas.
In order to search for new VLBI sources in the galactic plane that can be used as phase reference sources in differential VLBI, we conducted 22GHz observations of radio sources in the galactic plane using the Japanese VLBI Network (J-Net). We have observed 267 VLBI source candidates selected from existing radio surveys and have detected 93 sources at a signal-to-noise ratio larger than 5. While 42 of the 93 detected sources had already been detected with VLBI at relatively lower frequency (typically 2 to 8GHz), the remaining 51 are found to be new VLBI sources detected for the first time. These are located within |b|<=5{deg}, and have a large number of galactic maser sources around them. Thus, they are potential candidates for phase reference sources for VLBI Exploration of Radio Astrometry (VERA), which is the first VLBI array dedicated to phase-referencing VLBI astrometry aimed at measuring the parallax and proper motion of maser sources in the whole Galaxy.
We present results from a continuum VLA snapshot survey of the galactic plane in the longitude range 0{deg}<=l<=90{deg} at 1.5GHz. Observations were taken every 0.5{deg} in longitude at b=0{deg}. Most fields are complete to about 30mJy peak flux density. The positions, peak, and total flux density of 471 compact sources (<30") have been measured. A complete sample of 329 sources is defined. An excess of sources above that expected from extragalactic source counts is seen for l<40{deg} at all flux-density intervals. We find 86 compact sources that are within 2.4arcmin of a source in the recent radio recombination-line survey of Lockman (1989ApJS...71..469L) Source counts excluding these 86 sources agree with extragalactic source counts for all flux-density and longitude intervals. there may only be a small number of galactic objects present in this survey that remain unidentified as such.
We use a new Very Large Array Galactic plane catalog at 1.4GHz (Cat. <J/AJ/130/586>) covering the first and second Galactic quadrants (340{deg}<=l<=120{deg}, |b|<=0.8{deg} with |b|<=1.8{deg} for 350{deg}<=l<=40{deg} and |b|<=2.5{deg} for 100{deg}<=l<=105{deg}) in conjunction with the MSX6C (Cat. <V/114>) Galactic plane mid-infrared catalog to supplement and better understand our 5GHz catalog (Cat. <J/ApJS/91/347>).
Based on currently available observations of 28 maser sources in 25 star-forming regions with measured trigonometric parallaxes, proper motions, and radial velocities, we have constructed the rotation curve of the Galaxy. Taking different distances to the Galactic center R_0_, we have estimated the peculiar velocity of the Sun, the angular velocity of Galactic rotation, and its three derivatives.
A catalog of candidates for the Galactic Worms that are possibly the walls surrounding the superbubbles is compiled; 118 isolated structures that appear both in HI and in IR (60 and 100{mu}m). 52 are possibly associated with HII regions. It is found that the 100-{mu}m emissivity increases systematically toward the Galactic interior, which is consistent with the increase of the general interstellar radiation field. The 100-{mu}m emissivity of the structures associated with the HII regions is larger than that of the structures without associated HII regions. The 60-100{mu}m ratio is large, 0.28+/-0.03, which may indicate that the grains associated with the atomic gas have a relatively large population of small grains. 35 structures appear in the 408MHz continuum. The IR and the radio continuum properties suggest that the 408MHz continuum emission in those structures is very likely thermal. The implications of these results on the ionization of gas far from the Galactic plane are discussed.
Results of optical, radio, and submillimeter studies of the nearby galaxy cluster A1185 are presented. Coordinates have been obtained for 115 galaxies that are either cluster members or field galaxies in the direction of A1185. Radio spectra for a number of galaxies in this cluster have been derived using observations on the RATAN-600 radio telescope at 2.7,3.9,7.6, and 31 cm, together with data published in other study. At the cluster center some of the galaxies have either flat or inverted spectra.
We present radio images of a sample of six wide-angle tail (WAT) radio sources, identified in the Australia Telescope Large Area Survey 1.4-GHz radio survey, and new spectroscopic redshifts for four of these sources. These WATs are in the redshift range of 0.1469-0.3762, and we find evidence of galaxy overdensities in the vicinity of four of the WATs from either spectroscopic or photometric redshifts. We also present follow-up spectroscopic observations of the area surrounding the largest WAT, S1189, which is at a redshift of ~0.22. The spectroscopic observations, taken using the AAOmega spectrograph on the Anglo-Australian Telescope, show an overdensity of galaxies at this redshift. The galaxies are spread over an unusually large area of ~12Mpc with a velocity spread of ~4500km/s. This large-scale structure includes a highly asymmetric Fanaroff-Riley type I radio galaxy and also appears to host a radio relic. It may represent an unrelaxed system with different sub-structures interacting or merging with one another. We discuss the implications of these observations for future large-scale radio surveys.
Using the Sloan Digital Sky Survey (SDSS) and the Faint Images of the Radio Sky at Twenty Centimeters (FIRST) catalogs, we examined the optical environments around double-lobed radio sources. Previous studies have shown that multi-component radio sources exhibiting some degree of bending between components are likely to be found in galaxy clusters. Often this radio emission is associated with a cD-type galaxy at the center of a cluster. We cross-correlated the SDSS and FIRST catalogs and measured the richness of the cluster environments surrounding both bent and straight multi-component radio sources. This led to the discovery and classification of a large number of galaxy clusters out to a redshift of z~0.5.