A survey of hydroxyl toward supernova remnants: Evidence for extended 1720 MHz maser emission

J. W. Hewitt; F. Yusef-Zadeh; M. Wardle

doi:10.1086/588652

A survey of hydroxyl toward supernova remnants: Evidence for extended 1720 MHz maser emission

J. W. Hewitt, F. Yusef-Zadeh, M. Wardle

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Abstract

We present the results of GBT observations of all four ground-state hydroxyl (OH) transitions toward 15 supernova remnants (SNRs) which show OH (1720 MHz) maser emission. This species of maser is well established as an excellent tracer of an ongoing interaction between the SNR and dense molecular material. For the majority of these objects we detect significantly higher flux densities with a single dish than have been reported with interferometric observations. We infer that spatially extended, low-level maser emission is a common phenomenon that traces the large-scale interaction in maser-emitting SNRs. In addition, we use a collisional pumping model to fit the physical conditions under which OH is excited behind the SNR shock front. We find the observed OH gas associated with the SNR interaction having columns ^N_OH ≤ 1:5 × 10¹⁷ cm^-2, temperatures of 20-125 K, and densities ∼10⁵ cm^-3.

Original language	English
Pages (from-to)	189-206
Number of pages	18
Journal	Astrophysical Journal
Volume	683
Issue number	1
DOIs	https://doi.org/10.1086/588652
Publication status	Published - 10 Aug 2008

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title = "A survey of hydroxyl toward supernova remnants: Evidence for extended 1720 MHz maser emission",

abstract = "We present the results of GBT observations of all four ground-state hydroxyl (OH) transitions toward 15 supernova remnants (SNRs) which show OH (1720 MHz) maser emission. This species of maser is well established as an excellent tracer of an ongoing interaction between the SNR and dense molecular material. For the majority of these objects we detect significantly higher flux densities with a single dish than have been reported with interferometric observations. We infer that spatially extended, low-level maser emission is a common phenomenon that traces the large-scale interaction in maser-emitting SNRs. In addition, we use a collisional pumping model to fit the physical conditions under which OH is excited behind the SNR shock front. We find the observed OH gas associated with the SNR interaction having columns NOH ≤ 1:5 × 1017 cm-2, temperatures of 20-125 K, and densities ∼105 cm-3.",

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T1 - A survey of hydroxyl toward supernova remnants

T2 - Evidence for extended 1720 MHz maser emission

AU - Hewitt, J. W.

AU - Yusef-Zadeh, F.

AU - Wardle, M.

PY - 2008/8/10

Y1 - 2008/8/10

N2 - We present the results of GBT observations of all four ground-state hydroxyl (OH) transitions toward 15 supernova remnants (SNRs) which show OH (1720 MHz) maser emission. This species of maser is well established as an excellent tracer of an ongoing interaction between the SNR and dense molecular material. For the majority of these objects we detect significantly higher flux densities with a single dish than have been reported with interferometric observations. We infer that spatially extended, low-level maser emission is a common phenomenon that traces the large-scale interaction in maser-emitting SNRs. In addition, we use a collisional pumping model to fit the physical conditions under which OH is excited behind the SNR shock front. We find the observed OH gas associated with the SNR interaction having columns NOH ≤ 1:5 × 1017 cm-2, temperatures of 20-125 K, and densities ∼105 cm-3.

AB - We present the results of GBT observations of all four ground-state hydroxyl (OH) transitions toward 15 supernova remnants (SNRs) which show OH (1720 MHz) maser emission. This species of maser is well established as an excellent tracer of an ongoing interaction between the SNR and dense molecular material. For the majority of these objects we detect significantly higher flux densities with a single dish than have been reported with interferometric observations. We infer that spatially extended, low-level maser emission is a common phenomenon that traces the large-scale interaction in maser-emitting SNRs. In addition, we use a collisional pumping model to fit the physical conditions under which OH is excited behind the SNR shock front. We find the observed OH gas associated with the SNR interaction having columns NOH ≤ 1:5 × 1017 cm-2, temperatures of 20-125 K, and densities ∼105 cm-3.

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A survey of hydroxyl toward supernova remnants: Evidence for extended 1720 MHz maser emission

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