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Register a new userClass I methanol masers in NGC253: Alcohol at the end of the bar
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Simon Ellingsen
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We have used the Australia Telescope Compact Array (ATCA) to observe the 36.2-GHz class I methanol maser emission towards NGC253 and find that it is located at the interface between the nuclear ring and both ends of the galactic bar. This is thought to be the location of the inner Linblad resonance and we suggest that the maser emission in this region is likely due to large-scale cloud-cloud collisions. We have detected the first extragalactic 44.1-GHz class I methanol maser and find that it is associated with the 36.2-GHz maser emission. In contrast to the class I methanol masers found in Galactic star formation regions, the 44.1-GHz emission in NGC253 is two orders of magnitude weaker than the 36.2-GHz masers. Both the 36.2- and 44.1- GHz emission is orders of magnitude stronger than expected from typical high-mass star formation regions. This demonstrates that the luminous class I methanol masers observed in NGC253 are significantly different from those associated with Galactic star formation.
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Class I CH$_3$OH masers trace interstellar shocks. They have received little attention mostly as a consequence of their low luminosities; this situation has changed recently and Class I masers are now routinely used as signposts of outflows. The recent detection of polarisation in Class I lines now makes it possible to obtain information on magnetic fields in shocks. We make use of newly calculated collisional rates to investigate the excitation of Class I masers and to reconcile their observed properties with model results. We performed LVG calculations with a plane-parallel slab geometry to compute the pump and loss rates which regulate the interactions of the different maser systems with the maser reservoir. We study the dependence of the pump rate, the loss rate, and the inversion efficiency of the pumping scheme of Class I masers on the physics of the gas. Bright Class I masers are mainly high-temperature high-density structures with maser emission measures corresponding to high CH$_3$OH abundances close to the limits set by collisional quenching. Our model reproduces reasonably well most of the observed properties of Class I masers. The 25 GHz masers are the most sensitive to the density and mase at higher densities than other lines. Moreover, even at high density and high abundance, their luminosity is lower than that of the 44 GHz and 36 GHz lines. By comparison between observed isotropic photon luminosities and our model, we infer beam solid angles of ~0.001 steradian. Class I masers can be separated into 3 families: the $(J+1)_{-1}-J_{0}$-E type, the $(J+1)_0-J_1$-A type, and the $J_2-J_1$-E lines. The 25 GHz lines behave in a different fashion from the other masers as they are only inverted at densities above $10^6$ cm$^{-3}$ in contrast to other Class I masers. Therefore, the detection of maser activity in all 3 families is a clear indication of high densities.
We present a study of the association between class I methanol masers and cold dust clumps from the ATLASGAL survey. It was found that almost 100% of class I methanol masers are associated with objects listed in the ATLASGAL compact source catalog. We find a statistically significant difference in the flux density, luminosity, number and column density and temperature distributions of ATLASGAL sources associated with 95/44 GHz methanol masers compared with those ATLASGAL sources devoid of 95 GHz methanol masers. The masers tend to arise in clumps with higher densities, luminosities and temperatures compared with both the full sample of the ATLASGAL clumps, as well as the sample of ATLASGAL sources that were cross-matched with positions previously searched for methanol masers but with no detections. Comparison between the peak position of ATLASGAL clumps and the interferometric positions of the associated class I and II methanol masers reveals that class I masers are generally located at larger physical distances from the peak submillimetre emission than class II masers. We conclude that the tight association between ATLASGAL sources and class I methanol masers may be used as a link toward understanding the conditions of the pumping of these masers and evolutionary stages at which they appear.
In this paper, we present a database of class I methanol masers. The compiled information from the available literature provides an open and fast access to the data on class I methanol maser emission, including search, analysis and visualization of the extensive maser data set. There is information on individual maser components detected with single-dish observations and maser spots obtained from interferometric data. At the moment the database contains information from ~100 papers, i.e. ~7500 observations and ~650 sites of class I methanol masers. Analysis of the data collected in the database shows that the distribution of class I methanol maser sources is similar to that of class II methanol masers. They are mostly found in the Molecular Ring, where majority of the OB stars are located. The difference between class I and II distributions is the presence of many class I methanol masers in the Nuclear Disk region (Central Molecular Zone). Access to the class I methanol maser database is available online at http://maserdb.net
Four Class I maser sources were detected at 44, 84, and 95 GHz toward chemically rich outflows in the regions of low-mass star formation NGC 1333I4A, NGC 1333I2A, HH25, and L1157. One more maser was found at 36 GHz toward a similar outflow, NGC 2023. Flux densities of the newly detected masers are no more than 18 Jy, being much lower than those of strong masers in regions of high-mass star formation. The brightness temperatures of the strongest peaks in NGC 1333I4A, HH25, and L1157 at 44 GHz are higher than 2000 K, whereas that of the peak in NGC 1333I2A is only 176 K. However, rotational diagram analysis showed that the latter source is also a maser. The main properties of the newly detected masers are similar to those of Class I methanol masers in regions of massive star formation. The former masers are likely to be an extension of the latter maser population toward low luminosities of both the masers and the corresponding YSOs.
We have used the University of Tasmania Mt Pleasant 26m radio telescope to investigate the polarisation characteristics of a sample of strong 6.7 GHz methanol masers, the first spectral line polarisation observations to be undertaken with this instrument. As part of this process we have developed a new technique for calibrating linear polarisation spectral line observations. This calibration method gives results consistent with more traditional techniques, but requires much less observing time on the telescope. We have made the first polarisation measurements of a number of 6.7 GHz methanol masers and find linear polarisation at levels of a few - 10% in most of the sources we observed, consistent with previous results. We also investigated the circular polarisation produced by Zeeman splitting in the 6.7 GHz methanol maser G9.62+0.20 to get an estimate of the line of sight magnetic field strength of 35+/-7 mG.
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