VLBI observations of a H2O maser were done at five epochs in 1980-82 with a 5 station VLBI network (see 1992ApJ...393..149G). A model was fitted to each peak in any spectral channel exceeding 5 times the rms background. The minimum level of this background, due to system noise at the antennas, was about 0.2Jy at each epoch. The model parameters include right ascension and declination offset (x, y) relative to a reference position; the total flux density, S; and the angular diameter {theta}_H_, of the best-fitting Gaussian distribution of intensity. The fitted parameters are in table1.
The fragmentation process in massive star-forming regions is one of the contemporary problems in astrophysics, and several physical processes have been proposed to control the fragmentation including turbulence, magnetic field, rotation, stellar feedback, and gravity. However, the fragmentation process has been poorly studied at small spatial scales well below 1000AU. W51 IRS2 is a well known massive star-forming region whose fragmentation properties have not been well investigated yet. We aim to use ALMA (Atacama Large Millimeter and Submillimeter Array) high angular resolution data to identify the fragments in W51 IRS2 and to study the fragmentation properties on a spatial scale of 0.04" (200AU). We used ALMA data of W51 IRS2 from three projects, which give an angular resolution of 0.028" (144AU) at millimeter wavelengths. The continuum images reveal significant substructure in an east-west ridge, where both W51 North and W51d2 are embedded. A spectral index map has been generated from the 3 and 1.3mm high-resolution continuum images.We identified compact fragments by using uv-range constrained 1.3mm continuum data. A Mean Surface Density of Companions (MSDC) analysis has been performed to study the separations between fragments. A total number of 33 continuum sources are identified and 29 out of them are defined as fragments in the surveyed region.The MSDC analysis reveals two breaks corresponding to spatial sales of 1845AU and 7346AU, indicative of a two-level clustering phenomenon, along with a linear regime below 1845AU, mostly associated with W51 North, whose slope is consistent with the slope for the clustering regime of other cluster-like regions in the Galaxy. The typical masses and separations of the fragments as well as the relation between density and number of fragments can be explained through a thermal Jeans process operating at high temperatures of 200-400K, consistent with previous measurements of the temperature in the region, and produced by the nearby massive stars. Therefore, although W51 IRS2 seems to be undergoing a thermally inhibited fragmentation phase, this does not seem to prevent the formation of a protocluster associated with W51 North.
Recent high angular resolution radio observations of the ultracompact Hii region W3(OH) confirm the presence of an extremely compact (0.05"), time-variable source near its center. We use new, sensitive high angular resolution observations of radio continuum and recombination lines to study the compact source in W3(OH) and the ultracompact HII region itself. We reduced and analyzed extensive Jansky Very Large Array observations of W3(OH) in the continuum at 41.0GHz and in the H54{alpha} and He54{alpha} lines.
The massive binary system WR 11 ({gamma}^2^-Velorum) has recently been proposed as the counterpart of a Fermi source. If this association is correct, this system would be the second colliding wind binary detected in GeV {gamma}-rays. However, the reported flux measurements from 1.4 to 8.64 GHz fail to establish the presence of nonthermal (synchrotron) emission from this source. Moreover, WR 11 is not the only radio source within the Fermi detection box. Other possible counterparts have been identified in archival data, some of which present strong nonthermal radio emission. We conducted arcsec-resolution observations toward WR 11 at very low frequencies (150-1400 MHz) where the nonthermal emission - if existent and not absorbed - is expected to dominate. We present a catalog of more than 400 radio emitters, among which a significant portion are detected at more than one frequency, including limited spectral index information. Twenty-one of these radio emitters are located within the Fermi significant emission. A search for counterparts for this last group pointed at MOST 0808-471; this source is 2' away from WR 11 and is a promising candidate for high-energy emission, having a resolved structure along 325-1390 MHz. For this source, we reprocessed archive interferometric data up to 22.3 GHz and obtained a nonthermal radio spectral index of -0.97+/-0.09. However, multiwavelength observations of this source are required to establish its nature and to assess whether it can produce (part of) the observed {gamma}-rays. WR 11 spectrum follows a spectral index of 0.74+/-0.03 from 150 to 230 GHz, consistent with thermal emission. We interpret that any putative synchrotron radiation from the colliding-wind region of this relatively short-period system is absorbed in the photospheres of the individual components. Notwithstanding, the new radio data allowed us to derive a mass-loss rate of 2.5x10^-5^ M_{sun}_/yr, which, according to the latest models for {gamma}-ray emission in WR 11, would suffice to provide the required kinetic power to feed nonthermal radiation processes.
We present a radio continuum survey at 1400 and 350 MHz of a region of 2{deg}x2{deg} centered on the Cygnus OB2 association (d=1.7kpc), using the Westerbork Synthesis Radio Telescope (WSRT) with angular resolutions of, respectively, 13" and 55". The resulting 5{sigma} flux-density limits of, respectively, ~2mJy and ~10-15mJy are a significant improvement over previous surveys. We detected 210 discrete sources with sizes less than 1.9{theta}beam (beam size), 98 of which at both frequencies. We also detected 28 resolved sources (sizes>1.9{theta}beam) still having well-defined peak intensities. The observed spectral index {alpha}^1400^_350_ distribution and source count strongly suggest an excess of sources of Galactic origin in the direction of Cyg OB2.
We present results of a blind 21cm HI-line imaging survey of a galaxy overdensity located behind the Milky Way at l, b ~= 160{deg}, 0.5{deg}. The overdensity corresponds to a zone-of-avoidance crossing of the Perseus-Pisces Supercluster filament. Although it is known that this filament contains an X-ray galaxy cluster (3C 129) hosting two strong radio galaxies, little is known about galaxies associated with this potentially rich cluster because of the high Galactic dust extinction. We mapped a sky area of ~9.6 deg^2^ using the Westerbork Synthesis Radio Telescope in a hexagonal mosaic of 35 pointings observed for 12h each, in the radial velocity range cz=2400-16600km/s. The survey has a sensitivity of 0.36mJy/beam rms at a velocity resolution of 16.5km/s. We detected 211 galaxies, 62 per cent of which have a near-infrared counterpart in the UKIDSS Galactic Plane Survey. We present a catalogue of the HI properties and an HI atlas containing total intensity maps, position-velocity diagrams, global HI profiles and UKIDSS counterpart images. For the resolved galaxies we also present HI velocity fields and radial HI surface density profiles. A brief analysis of the structures outlined by these galaxies finds that 87 of them lie at the distance of the Perseus-Pisces Supercluster (cz~4000-8000km/s) and seem to form part of the 3C 129 cluster. Further 72 detections trace an overdensity at a velocity of cz~=10000km/s and seem to coincide with a structure predicted from mass density reconstructions in the first 2MASS Redshift Survey.
Results are presented of the 345 GHz spectral survey toward three sources in the W 3 Giant Molecular Cloud: W 3 IRS4, W 3 IRS5 and W 3(H_2_O). Nearly 90% of the atmospheric window between 334 and 365GHz has been scanned using the James Clerk Maxwell Telescope (JCMT) down to a noise level of ~80mK per resolution element. These observations are complemented by a large amount of data in the 230GHz atmospheric window. From this data set physical conditions and beam-averaged column densities are derived for more than 14 chemically different species (over 24 different isotopes). The physical parameters derived in Paper I (Helmich et al., 1994A&A...283..626H) are confirmed by the analysis of the excitation of other species, although there is evidence that the silicon- and sulfur-bearing molecules exist in a somewhat denser and warmer environment. The densities are high, >=10^6^cm^-3^, in the three sources and the kinetic temperatures for the bulk of the gas range from 55K for IRS4 to 220K for W 3(H_2_O). The chemical differences between the three sources are very striking: silicon- and sulfur-bearing molecules such as SiO and SO_2_ are prominent toward IRS5, whereas organic molecules like CH_3_OH, CH_3_OCH_3_ and CH_3_OCHO are at least an order of magnitude more abundant toward W 3(H_2_O). Vibrationally excited molecules are also detected toward this source. Only simple molecules are found toward IRS4. The data provide constraints on the amount of deuterium fractionation and the ionization fraction in the observed regions as well. These chemical characteristics are discussed in the context of an evolutionary sequence, in which IRS5 is the youngest, W 3(H_2_O) somewhat older and IRS4, although still enigmatic, the oldest.
We present an overview of the GBT Observations of TMC-1: Hunting Aromatic Molecules Large Program on the Green Bank Telescope. This and a related program were launched to explore the depth and breadth of aromatic chemistry in the interstellar medium at the earliest stages of star formation, following our earlier detection of benzonitrile (c-C6H5CN) in TMC-1. In this work, details of the observations, use of archival data, and data reduction strategies are provided. Using these observations, the interstellar detection of propargyl cyanide (HCCCH2CN) is described, as well as the accompanying laboratory spectroscopy. We discuss these results, and the survey project as a whole, in the context of investigating a previously unexplored reservoir of complex, gas-phase molecules in pre-stellar sources. A series of companion papers describe other new astronomical detections and analyses.
We introduce xCOLD GASS, a legacy survey providing a census of molecular gas in the local universe. Building on the original COLD GASS survey, we present here the full sample of 532 galaxies with CO (1-0) measurements from the IRAM 30m telescope. The sample is mass-selected in the redshift interval 0.01<z<0.05 from the Sloan Digital Sky Survey (SDSS) and therefore representative of the local galaxy population with M_*_>10^9^M_{sun}_. The CO (1-0) flux measurements are complemented by observations of the CO (2-1) line with both the IRAM 30 m and APEX telescopes, HI observations from Arecibo, and photometry from SDSS, WISE, and GALEX. Combining the IRAM and APEX data, we find that the ratio of CO (2-1) to CO (1-0) luminosity for integrated measurements is r_21_=0.79+/- 0.03, with no systematic variations across the sample. The CO (1-0) luminosity function is constructed and best fit with a Schechter function with parameters L_CO_^* ^=(7.77+/-2.11)x10^9^K.(km/s).pc^2^, {phi}^*^=(9.84+/-5.41)x10^-4^Mpc^-3^, and {alpha}=-1.19+/-0.05. With the sample now complete down to stellar masses of 10^9^M_{sun}_, we are able to extend our study of gas scaling relations and confirm that both molecular gas fractions (f_H2_) and depletion timescale (t_dep_(H2)) vary with specific star formation rate (or offset from the star formation main sequence) much more strongly than they depend on stellar mass. Comparing the xCOLD GASS results with outputs from hydrodynamic and semianalytic models, we highlight the constraining power of cold gas scaling relations on models of galaxy formation.
The low-frequency radio survey of the XMM-Large Scale Structure (XMM-LSS) field aims to study the connection between the extragalactic radio source populations and their environment as traced by X-ray and optical emission. In this paper we present new radio observations of the XMM-LSS field carried out using the Giant Meterwave Radio Telescope at 240 and 610MHz. These observations complement the observations presented by Cohen at al. (2003, Cat. <J/ApJ/591/640>) and Tasse et al. (2006, Cat. <J/A+A/456/791>) at 74 and 325MHz with the Very Large Array. At 240 and 610MHz, we reach noise levels of ~2.5 and ~0.3mJy/beam, leading to the detection of 466 and 769 sources over 18.0 and 12.7 degree^2^ with resolutions of 14.7arcsec and 6.5arcsec respectively. Combining these data with the available source lists at 74, 325 (Tasse et al., 2006, Cat. <J/A+A/456/791>) and 1400MHz (NVSS), we build a multifrequency catalogue containing 1611 radio sources. We check for consistency of the astrometry and flux density estimates. We fit a simple synchrotron radiation model to the flux density measurements of the 318 radio sources being detected in at least 4 bands. While ~26% of them show signature of spectral ageing, ~6% show self absorption.
