Related papers: Cosmology With High-Redshift Water Masers

We have conducted multi-epoch EVN observations of the 22.2 GHz water masers towards four high-mass star forming regions (Sh 2-255 IR, IRAS 23139+5939, WB89-234, and OMC2). The (three) observing epochs span a time range of 6 months. In each…

We present results of a ground-based survey for Cepheid variables in NGC 4258. This galaxy plays a key role in the Extragalactic Distance Scale due to its very precise and accurate distance determination via VLBI observations of water…

In Papers I and II from the Megamaser Cosmology Project (MCP), we reported initial observations of water masers in an accretion disk of a supermassive black hole at the center of the galaxy UGC 3789, which gave an angular-diameter distance…

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)…

The study of water masers at cosmological distances would allow us to investigate the parsec-scale environment around powerful radio sources, to probe the physical conditions of the molecular gas in the inner parsecs of quasars, and to…

VLBI multi-epoch water maser observations are a powerful tool to study the dense, warm shocked gas very close to massive protostars. The very high-angular resolution of these observations allow us to measure the proper motions of the masers…

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 astrometic observations of H2O masers associated with the star forming region G192.16-3.84 with the VLBI Exploration of Radio Astrometry (VERA). The H2O masers seem to be associated with two young stellar objects…

Context: The Red MSX Source (RMS) survey has identified a large sample of candidate massive young stellar objects (MYSOs) and ultra compact (UC) HII regions from a sample of ~2000 MSX and 2MASS colour selected sources. Aims: To search for…

As part of the Megamaser Cosmology Project (MCP), here we present a new geometric distance measurement to the megamaser galaxy NGC 5765b. Through a series of VLBI observations, we have confirmed the water masers trace a thin, sub-parsec…

A sample of nearby galaxies hosting low-luminosity type 1 quasi-stellar objects (QSOs), previously studied in CO and HI emission lines, has been searched for maser emission. Using the Effelsberg 100-m telescope, we observed 17 sources with…

We report the detection of four water masers within the Small Magellanic Cloud (SMC); two discovered with the 70-m Tidbinbilla radio telescope, and two discovered with the Australia Telescope Compact Array (ATCA). Precise positions of all…

Context: Maser emission from the H2O molecule probes the warm, inner circumstellar envelopes of oxygen-rich red giant and supergiant stars. Multi-maser transition studies can be used to put constraints on the density and temperature of the…

We discuss the unique opportunities for maser astrometry with the inclusion of the Square Kilometre Array (SKA) in Very Long Baseline Interferometry (VLBI) networks. The first phase of the SKA will enable observations of hydroxyl and…

In combination with observations of the Cosmic Microwave Background, a measurement of the Hubble Constant provides a direct test of the standard $\Lambda$CDM cosmological model and a powerful constraint on the equation of state of dark…

We present the first interferometer map of the water maser emission in the active nucleus of NGC 4945. Although the declination of the galaxy is about -49 degrees, we were able to make the observations with the southernmost antennas of the…

We have conducted a sensitive water maser search with the ATCA towards 267 1.2-mm dust clumps presented in the literature. We combine our new observations with previous water maser observations to extend our sample to 294 1.2-mm dust…

We report on the first multi-epoch, phase referenced VLBI observations of the water maser emission in a high-mass protostar associated with a disk-jet system. The source under study, IRAS 20126+4104, has been extensively investigated in a…

In this talk I will summarize some of the work that the CfA group has done to study the structure of the water masers in the accretion disk of NGC 4258. A series of 18 epochs of VLBA data taken from 1997.3 to 2000.8 were used for this…

Water vapor megamasers from the center of active galaxies provide a powerful tool to trace accretion disks at sub-parsec resolution and, through an entirely geometrical method, measure direct distances to galaxies up to 200 Mpc. The…