Related papers: Theory and Extragalactic Masers
We report dual-frequency very long baseline interferometry (VLBI) observations at 22 and 43 GHz toward the nucleus of a nearby radio galaxy NGC 4261. In particular, we present a VLBI image of the 22 GHz H2O maser line and its location in…
Using the Green Bank Telescope, we have conducted a survey for 1.3 cm water maser emission toward the nuclei of nearby active galaxies, the most sensitive large survey for H2O masers to date. Among 145 galaxies observed, maser emission was…
The discovery of hundreds of young, bright stars within a parsec from the massive black hole at the center of the Galaxy presents a challenge to star formation theories. The requisite Roche densities for the gravitational collapse of gas…
We report the discovery of water maser emission in five active galactic nuclei (AGN) with the 100-m Green Bank Telescope (GBT). The positions of the newly discovered masers, measured with the VLA, are consistent with the optical positions…
Water is the most common triatomic molecule in the universe and the basis of life on Earth. Astrophysical masers have been widely studied in recent years and have been shown to be invaluable probes of the details of the environment in which…
For a few nearby active nuclei, the disc orbiting the black hole is traced by water maser emission. By combining a simple model together with observed velocity profiles, we show that it is possible to put constraints on the black hole mass…
Water megamasers at 22 GHz with a gas disk configuration in galaxies provide the most precise measurements of supermassive black hole masses, as well as independent constraints on the Hubble constant in the nearby universe. The existence of…
It has been claimed that the megamaser observations of the nucleus of NGC 4258 show that a massive black hole is present in its center (Miyoshi et al. 1995, Greenhill et al. 1995). We show that the evidence of ejection of gas, radio plasma,…
Based on spectroscopic signatures, about one-third of known H$_2$O maser sources in active galactic nuclei (AGN) are believed to arise in highly inclined accretion disks around central engines. These "disk maser candidates" are of interest…
We study the optical properties of the host galaxies of nuclear 22 GHz (lambda=1.35 cm) water masers. To do so, we cross-match the galaxy sample surveyed for water maser emission (123 detections and 3806 non-detections) with the SDSS…
NGC 4258 is well known for its 22 GHz water maser features that appear to reside in a thin Keplerian disk orbiting at R_0=0.13 pc. The influence of gravitational redshift on the level of maser saturation and the line strength and width of…
This paper reviews recent advances in the study or circumstellar masers and masers found toward supernova remnants. The review is organized by science focus area, including the astrophysics of extended stellar atmospheres, stellar mass-loss…
The NGC 1333 IRAS 4 region was observed in the 22 GHz H2O maser line with an angular resolution of about 0.08 arcseconds. Two groups of masers were detected, one near IRAS 4A and the other near BI. Among the eight maser spots detected near…
The results of high-resolution spectral-line observations of dense molecular gas are presented towards the nuclear region of the type 2 Seyfert galaxy NGC1068. MERLIN observations of the 22 GHz H2O maser were made for imaging the known…
We present a reanalysis of the water maser system in NGC 4258 to reassess its geometric distance, commonly reported as approximately 7.6 Mpc with percent-level accuracy, a key anchor in extragalactic distance ladder calibrations and recent…
As part of the Megamaser Cosmology Project (MCP), we present VLBI maps of nuclear water masers toward five galaxies. The masers originate in sub-parsec circumnuclear disks. For three of the galaxies, we fit Keplerian rotation curves to…
Observations of Keplerian disks of masers in NCG 4258 and other Seyfert galaxies can be used to obtain geometric distance estimates and derive the Hubble constant. The ultimate precision of such measurements could be limited by…
Masers found in massive star-forming regions can be located precisely in six-dimensional phase space and therefore serve as a tool for studying Milky Way dynamics. The non-random orbital phases at which the masers are found and the…
Since the IAU (maser-)Symposium 287 in Stellenbosch/South Africa (Jan. 2012), great progress has been achieved in studying extragalactic maser sources. Sensitivity has reached a level allowing for dedicated maser surveys of extragalactic…
Having conducted a search for the 22 GHz water vapor line towards galaxies with nuclear activity, large nuclear column densities or high infrared luminosities, we present H_2O spectra for NGC2273, UGC5101 and NGC3393 with isotropic…