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SHOOTING STARS Masers from red giants

Published online by Cambridge University Press:  24 July 2012

Sofia Ramstedt ,
Wouter Vlemmings ,
Elizabeth Humphreys  and
Felipe Alves
Sofia Ramstedt
Affiliation:
Argelander Institut für Astronomie, Bonn, Germany email: sofia@astro.uni-bonn.de
Wouter Vlemmings
Affiliation:
Onsala Space Observatory, Onsala, Sweden
Elizabeth Humphreys
Affiliation:
European Southern Observatory, Garching, Germany
Felipe Alves
Affiliation:
Argelander Institut für Astronomie, Bonn, Germany email: sofia@astro.uni-bonn.de
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Abstract

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SiO maser emission probes the region close to the stellar surface where the wind is formed and is observed to better constrain the physical conditions in this region. We have started a long-term project where high-excitation 28SiO maser lines (i.e., J=5-4, v=1 and 2) are observed in a large sample of southern AGB stars. The primary goals are to put constraints on the physical conditions in the extended atmospheres, and to achieve a better understanding of the maser excitation process. Since the maser emission is strong and often highly linearly polarized, the detected sources could also complement the polarization calibrator catalogue for ALMA. Preliminary results show a high detection rate and that in approximately 20% of the sources, the v=2 transition emits stronger than the v=1 transition. We interpret this as possibly indicative of a hot dust shell very close to the stars.

Keywords

maserspolarizationcatalogsstars: AGB and post-AGBstars: mass loss
Type
Contributed Papers
Information
Proceedings of the International Astronomical Union , Volume 8 , Symposium S287: Cosmic Masers - from OH to H0 , January 2012 , pp. 292 - 293
Copyright
Copyright © International Astronomical Union 2012

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