Related papers: The water megamaser in the merger system Arp299
Very luminous extragalactic water masers, the megamasers, are associated with active galactic nuclei (AGN) in galaxies characterized by accretion disks, radio jets, and nuclear outflows. Weaker masers, the kilomasers, seem to be mostly…
Questions surround the connection of luminous extragalactic masers to galactic processes. The observation that water and hydroxyl megamasers rarely coexist in the same galaxy has given rise to a hypothesis that the two species appear in…
We report the result of an on-going survey for 22 GHz H2O maser emission towards infrared luminous galaxies. The observed galaxies were selected primarily from the IRAS bright galaxy sample. The survey has resulted in the detection of one…
Using the Green Bank Telescope, we conducted a ``snapshot'' survey for water maser emission toward the nuclei of 611 galaxies and detected eight new sources. The sample consisted of nearby (v < 5000 km/s) and luminous (M_B < -19.5)…
Luminous water maser emission in the 6_(16)-5_(23) line at 22 GHz has been detected from two dozen galaxies. In all cases the emission is confined to the nucleus and has been found only in AGN, in particular, in Type 2 Seyferts and LINERs.…
Water megamaser emission at 22 GHz has proven to be a powerful tool for astrophysical studies of AGN allowing an accurate determination of the central black hole mass and of the accretion disc geometry and dynamics. However, after searches…
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…
Investigations of H$_2$O maser galaxies at X-ray energies reveal that most AGN associated with water masers are characterized by high levels of absorption. With the aim of finding new maser sources for possible interferometric follow-ups,…
Extragalactic observations of water emission can provide valuable insights into the excitation of the interstellar medium. In addition, extragalactic megamasers are powerful probes of kinematics close to active nuclei. Therefore, it is…
Extragalactic water vapor masers with 50, 1000, 1, and 230 solar (isotropic) luminosities were detected toward Mrk1066 (UGC2456), Mrk34, NGC3556 and Arp299, respectively. The interacting system Arp299 appears to show two maser hotspots…
Luminous extragalactic masers are traditionally referred to as the `megamasers'. Those produced by water molecules are associated with accretion disks, radio jets, or outflows in the nuclear regions of active galactic nuclei (AGN). The…
Abridged. The LINER galaxy TXS2226-184 is known to host a very luminous 22 GHz water maser, called a gigamaser at the time of its discovery. To date, the nature of this maser is still being debated, in particular, whether it is associated…
Optical emission-line profiles were evaluated in order to explore the structure of galactic nuclei containing H2O megamaser sources. Galactic rotation and outflow of narrow-line gas are common features of this sample of water megamaser…
We report four new 22 GHz water masers found in a Green Bank Telescope search toward 37 nearby objects. Our goal was to find new maser galaxies, AGN disk-masers, and objects where both hydroxyl and water maser species coexist. We observed…
We present the results of an ALMA survey to identify 183 GHz H$_2$O maser emission from AGN already known to host 22 GHz megamaser systems. Out of 20 sources observed, we detect significant 183 GHz maser emission from 13; this survey thus…
A relationship between the water maser detection rate and large nuclear column densities in AGN has often been cited in the literature. Indeed, detailed studies of luminous water masers, typically associated with the nuclear activity, allow…
We suggest a mechanism for the amplification of high-velocity water-vapor maser emission features from the central regions of active galactic nuclei. The model of an emitting accretion disk is considered. The high-velocity emission features…
22 GHz water vapor `kilomaser' emission is reported from the central region of the Whirlpool galaxy M 51 (NGC 5194). The red-shifted spectral features (Vlsr ~ 560 km/s), flaring during most of the year 2000, originate from a spatially…
Water vapor emission at 22 GHz is reported from the nucleus of the LINER galaxy Mrk 1419 (NGC 2960). Single-dish spectra of the maser source show properties that are similar to those seen in NGC 4258, namely (1) a cluster of systemic H2O…
We present a simultaneous single-dish survey of 22 GHz water maser and 44 GHz and 95 GHz class I methanol masers toward 77 6.7 GHz class II methanol maser sources, which were selected from the Arecibo methanol maser Galactic plane survey…