Discovery of 22 GHz Water Masers in the Serpens South Region
- Max Planck Institut für Radioastronomie, Auf dem Hügel 69, D-53121 Bonn (Germany)
- National Radio Astronomy Observatory (NRAO), 520 Edgemont Road, Charlottesville, VA 22903 (United States)
- Instituto de Radioastronomía y Astrofísica (IRyA), Universidad Nacional Autónoma de México Morelia, 58089 (Mexico)
- Tecnologico de Monterrey, Escuela de Ingeniería y Ciencias, Avenida Eugenio Garza Sada 2501, Monterrey, 64849 (Mexico)
- Institute for Astrophysical Research, Boston University, Boston, MA 02215 (United States)
Using the Karl G. Jansky Very Large Array (VLA), we have conducted a survey for 22 GHz, 6{sub 1,6}–5{sub 2,3} H{sub 2}O masers toward the Serpens South region. The masers were also observed with the Very Long Baseline Array following the VLA detections. We detect for the first time H{sub 2}O masers in the Serpens South region that are found to be associated to three Class 0–Class I objects, including the two brightest protostars in the Serpens South cluster, known as CARMA-6 and CARMA-7. We also detect H{sub 2}O masers associated to a source with no outflow or jet features. We suggest that this source is most probably a background asymptotic giant branch star projected in the direction of Serpens South. The spatial distribution of the emission spots suggest that the masers in the three Class 0–Class I objects emerge very close to the protostars and are likely excited in shocks driven by the interaction between a protostellar jet and the circumstellar material. Based on the comparison of the distributions of bolometric luminosity of sources hosting 22 GHz H{sub 2}O masers and 162 young stellar objects covered by our observations, we identify a limit of L {sub Bol} ≈ 10L {sub ⊙} for a source to host water masers. However, the maser emission shows strong variability in both intensity and velocity spread, and therefore masers associated to lower-luminosity sources may have been missed by our observations. We also report 11 new sources with radio continuum emission at 22 GHz.
- OSTI ID:
- 23159313
- Journal Information:
- The Astronomical Journal (Online), Vol. 162, Issue 2; Other Information: Country of input: International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA); ISSN 1538-3881
- Country of Publication:
- United States
- Language:
- English
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