We have examined the relationship between the velocity parameters of SiO masers and the phase of the long period variable stars (LPVs) from which the masers originate. The SiO spectra from the v=1, J=1-0 (43.122 GHz; hereafter $J_{1\rightarrow0}$) and the v=1, J=2-1 (86.2434 GHz; hereafter $J_{2\rightarrow1}$) transitions have been measured using the Mopra Telescope of the Australia Telescope National Facility. One hundred twenty one sources have been observed including 47 LPVs contained in the American Association of Variable Star Observer Bulletin (2011). The epoch of maxima and the periods of the LPVs are well studied. This database of spectra allows for phase dependent comparisons and analysis not previously possible with such a large number of sources observed almost simultaneously in the two transitions over a time span of several years. The velocity centroids ($VCs$) and velocity ranges of emission ($VRs$) have been determined and compared for the two transitions as a function of phase. No obvious phase dependence has been determined for the $VC$ or $VR$. The results of this analysis are compared with past observations and existing SiO maser theory.
We obtained, for the first time, astrometrically registered maps of the 22.2 GHz H2O and 42.8, 43.1, and 86.2 GHz SiO maser emission toward the semiregular b-type variable (SRb) R Crateris, at three epochs (2015 May 21, and 2016 January 7 and 26) using the Korean Very-long-baseline Interferometry Network. The SiO masers show a ring-like spatial structure, while the H2O maser shows a very asymmetric one-side outflow structure, which is located at the southern part of the ring-like SiO maser feature. We also found that the 86.2 GHz SiO maser spots are distributed in an inner region, compared to …
The SiO molecule is one of the candidates for the seed of silicate dust in the circumstellar envelope of evolved stars, but this opinion is challenged. In this work we investigate the relation of the SiO maser emis- sion power and the silicate dust emission power. With both our own observation by using the PMO/Delingha 13.7-m telescope and archive data, a sample is assembled of 21 SiO v=1,J=2-1 sources and 28 SiO v=1,J=1- 0 sources that exhibit silicate emission features in the ISO/SWS spectrum as well. The analysis of their SiO maser and silicate emission power indicates a clear correlation, …
The supergiant VX Sagittarii is a strong emitter of both H2O and SiO masers. However, previous VLBI observations have been performed separately, which makes it difficult to spatially trace the outward transfer of the material consecutively. Here we present the astrometrically registered, simultaneous maps of 22.2 GHz H2O and 43.1/42.8/86.2/129.3 GHz SiO masers toward VX Sagittarii. The H2O masers detected above the dust-forming layers have an asymmetric distribution. The multi-transition SiO masers are nearly circular ring, suggesting spherically symmetric wind within a few stellar radii. Thes…
H2O (22 GHz) and SiO masers (43, 86, 129 GHz) in the bipolar proto-planetary nebula OH231.8+4.2 were simultaneously monitored using the 21-m antennas of the Korean VLBI Network in 2009-2015. Both species exhibit periodic flux variations that correlate with the central star's optical light curve, with a phase delay of up to 0.15 for the maser flux variations with respect to the optical light curve. The flux densities of SiO v = 2, J = 1-0 and H2O masers decrease with time, implying that they may disappear in 10-20 years. However, there seems to have been a transient episode of intense H2O maser…
Interactions between AGB stars and a secondary in a close orbit are one possible explanation of why some AGB stars develop into aspherical planetary nebulae. This study uses millimeter observations of the continuum and SiO maser emission in several symbiotic Miras looking for evidence of an interaction between the two stars. New JVLA observations at ~45 mas resolution are analyzed, imaging continuum and SiO masers. Two of the three targets were detected and accurately registered continuum and line images were derived. No clear evidence of an interaction was found between components B and A in …
We performed simultaneous observations of the H2O 6(1,6) - 5(2,3) (22.235080 GHz) and SiO v= 1, 2, J = 1 - 0, SiO v = 1, J = 2 - 1, 3 - 2 (43.122080, 42.820587, 86.243442, and 129.363359 GHz) masers towards the suspected D-type symbiotic star, V627 Cas, using the Korean VLBI Network. Here, we present astrometrically registered maps of the H2O and SiO v = 1, 2, J = 1 - 0, SiO v = 1, J = 2 - 1 masers for five epochs from January 2016 to June 2018. Distributions of the SiO maser spots do not show clear ring-like structures, and those of the H2O maser are biased towards the north-north-west to wes…
Context. Stars on the asymptotic giant branch (AGB) are long-period variables that present strong flux variations at almost all wavelengths, including the SiO maser lines. The periods of these variations are of 300-500 days in Mira-type stars and somewhat shorter in semi-regular variables. The variability of the SiO lines on short timescales has been investigated, but the data are inconclusive. Aims. We aim to study the time evolution of the SiO maser lines in Mira-type and semi-regular variables at short timescales. We also discuss the origin of the observed fast variations. Methods. We obser…
The full theory of polarized SiO maser emission from the near-circumstellar environment of Asymptotic Giant Branch stars has been the subject of debate, with theories ranging from classical Zeeman origins to predominantly non-Zeeman anisotropic excitation or propagation effects. Features with an internal electric vector position angle (EVPA) rotation of $\sim π/2$ offer unique constraints on theoretical models. In this work, results are presented for one such feature that persisted across five epochs of SiO $ν=1, J=1-0$ VLBA observations of TX Cam. We examine the fit to the predicted dependenc…
The detailed polarization mechanisms of SiO masers originating from the near circum\-stellar environment of Asymptotic Giant Branch stars are not yet definitively known. Prevailing theories are broadly classified as either Zeeman or non-Zeeman in origin, the latter including effects such as anisotropic pumping or anisotropic resonant scattering. The predicted behavior of the linear and circular polarization fractions and electric vector position angle vary by theory. In particular, individual maser features that exhibit a rotation in linear polarization of $\sim π/2$ as a function of frequency…
Circumstellar environments of oxygen-rich stars are among the strongest SiO maser emitters. Physical processes such as collisions, infrared pumping and overlaps favors the inversion of level population and produce maser emission at different vibrational states. Despite numerous observational and theoretical efforts, we still do not have an unified picture including all the physical processes involved in the SiO maser emission. The aim of this work is to provide homogeneous data in a large sample of oxygen-rich stars. We present a survey of 67 oxygen-rich stars from 7 to 1 mm, in their rotation…
We present the database of maser sources in H2O, OH and SiO lines that can be used to identify and study variable stars at evolved stages. Detecting the maser emission in H2O, OH and SiO molecules toward infrared-excess objects is one of the methods of identification long-period variables (LPVs, including Miras and Semi-Regular), because these stars exhibit maser activity in their circumstellar shells. Our sample contains 1803 known LPV objects. 46% of these stars (832 objects) manifest maser emission in the line of at least one molecule: H2O, OH or SiO. We use the database of circumstellar ma…
We present results on a search for 86.243 GHz SiO (J = 2 -- 1, v = 1) maser emission toward 67 OH/IR stars located near the Galactic Centre. We detected 32 spectral peaks, of which 28 correspond to SiO maser lines arising from the envelopes of these OH/IR stars. In OH/IR stars, we obtained an SiO maser detection rate of about 40%. We serendipitously detected two other lines from OH/IR stars at 86.18 GHz, which could be due to a CCS-molecule transition at 86.181 GHz or probably to an highly excited OH molecular transition at 86.178 GHz. The detection rate of 86 GHz maser emission is found to be…
We present an observational study of the vibrationally excited H$_{2}$O line at 658 GHz ($ν_{2}$=1, 1$_{1, 0}$-1$_{0, 1}$) toward Orion KL using the Atacama Large Millimeter/Submillimeter Array (ALMA). This line is clearly detected at the position of the massive protostar candidate, the Source I. The spatial structure is compact with a size of about 100 AU and is elongated along the northeast-southwest low-velocity (18 km s$^{-1}$) bipolar outflow traced by 22 GHz H$_{2}$O masers, SiO masers, and thermal SiO lines. A velocity gradient can be seen perpendicular to the bipolar outflow. Overall s…
VLBI observations of SiO masers recover at most 40-50% of the total flux obtained by single dish observations at any spectral channel. Some previous studies seems to indicate that, at least, part of the lost flux is divided up into many weak components rather than in a large resolved emission area. Taking benefit of the high sensitivity and resolution of the HSA, we investigate the problem of the missing flux in VLBI observations of SiO maser emission at 7mm in the AGB stars and obtain a high dynamic range map of IRC+10011. We conclude that the missing flux is mostly contained in many very wea…
We report on the first 1,432 sources observed using the Atacama Large Millimeter/submillimeter Array (ALMA), from the Bulge Asymmetries and Dynamical Evolution (BAaDE) survey, which aims to obtain tens of thousands of line-of-sight velocities from SiO masers in Asymptotic Giant Branch (AGB) stars in the Milky Way. A 71% detection rate of 86 GHz SiO masers is obtained from the infrared color-selected sample, and increases to 80% when considering the likely oxygen-rich stars using Midcourse Space Experiment (MSX) colors isolated in a region where [D]-[E] <= 1.38. Based on Galactic distributions,…
We investigate the use of 183 GHz H2O masers for characterization of the physical conditions and mass loss process in the circumstellar envelopes of evolved stars. We used APEX SEPIA Band 5 to observe the 183 GHz H2O line towards 2 Red Supergiant and 3 Asymptotic Giant Branch stars. Simultaneously, we observed lines in 28SiO v0, 1, 2 and 3, and for 29SiO v0 and 1. We detected the 183 GHz H2O line towards all the stars with peak flux densities greater than 100 Jy, including a new detection from VY CMa. Towards all 5 targets, the water line had indications of being due to maser emission and had …
There are indications that the third known eruption of the recurrent nova T CrB is imminent, and multi-wavelength observations prior to the eruption are important to characterise the system before it erupts. T CrB is known to display the SiO fundamental vibrational feature at 8$\,μ$m. When the anticipated eruption occurs, it is possible that the shock produced when the ejected material runs into the wind of the red giant in the system may be traced using SiO maser emission. We have used the 100m Effelsberg Radio Telescope to search for $^{28}$SiO emission in the $\upsilon=1$, $\upsilon=2$, $J=…
We report on the astrometric registration of VLBI images of the SiO and water masers in OH231.8+4.2, the iconic Proto-Planetary Nebula also known as the Calabash nebula, using the KVN and Source/Frequency Phase Referencing. This, for the first time, robustly confirms the alignment of the SiO masers, close to the AGB star, driving the bi-lobe structure with the water masers in the out-flow. We are able to trace the bulk motions for the water masers over the last few decades to be 19 km/s and deduce that the age of this expansion stage is 38$\pm$2 years. The combination of this result with the d…
SiO Maser Line-width Diagnostics of AGB Stars and Red Supergiants: The RSG-adjacent Region in the FWZI--Luminosity Plane
School of Physics and Astronomy, Sun Yat-sen University（中山大学物理学院）；CSST Science Center for the Guangdong-Hong Kong-Macau Greater Bay Area, Sun Yat-sen University（中山大学粤港澳大湾区宇宙线科学中心）；School of Physics and Astronomy, Beijing Normal University（北京师范大学物理学院）；Institute for Frontiers in Astronomy and Astrophysics, Beijing Normal University（北京师范大学天文与前沿物理研究所）
We present results of 3 mm observations of SiO maser sources in the Galactic Centre (GC) from observations with the Australia Telescope Compact Array between $2010-2014$, along the transitions of the SiO molecule at $v = 1, J = 2-1$ at 86.243 GHz and $v = 2, J = 2-1$ at 85.640 GHz. We also present the results of the 3 mm observations with Atacama Large Millimeter/Submillimeter Array (ALMA). We detected 5 maser sources from the ATCA data, IRS 7, IRS 9, IRS 10EE, IRS 12N, and IRS 28; and 20 sources from the ALMA data including 4 new sources. These sources are predominantly late-type giants or em…
We present multi-epoch observations with the VLBA of SiO maser emission in the v=1, J=1-0 transition at 43 GHz from the remnant of the red nova V838 Mon. We model the positions of maser spots to derive a parallax of 0.166+/-0.060 mas. Combining this parallax with other distance information results in a distance of 5.6+/-0.5 kpc, which agrees with an independent geometric distance of 6.1+/-0.6 kpc from modeling polarimetry images of V838 Mon's light echo. Combining these results, and including a weakly constraining Gaia DR2 parallax, yields a best estimate of distance of 5.9+/-0.4 kpc. The mase…
This paper presents a component-level comparison of the polarized v=1 J =1-0, v=2 J=1-0 and v=1 J=2-1 SiO maser emission towards the supergiant star VY CMa at milliarcsecond-scale, as observed using the VLBA at $λ=7$mm and $λ=3$mm. An earlier paper considered overall maser morphology and constraints on SiO maser excitation and pumping derived from these data. The goal of the current paper is to use the measured polarization properties of individual co-spatial components detected across multiple transitions to provide constraints on several competing theories for the transport of polarized mase…
We present 3D velocity measurements and acceleration limits for stars within a few parsec of the Galactic Center (GC) black hole, Sgr A*, based on observations of 43 and 86 GHz circumstellar maser emission. Observations were taken with the Very Large Array (VLA) in 2013, 2014, and 2020 and with the Atacama Large Millimeter/submillimeter Array (ALMA) in 2015 and 2017. We detect 28 masers in total, of which four are new detections. Combining these data with extant maser astrometry, we calculate stellar proper motions and accelerations with uncertainties as low as ~10 $μ$as yr$^{-1}$ and 0.5 $μ$a…
29SiO and 30SiO J=1--0 maser signatures in Galactic AGB stars: the impact of third dredge up and turbulence velocity
Leiden University（莱顿大学）；National Radio Astronomy Observatory（国家射电天文台）；Joint Institute for VLBI ERIC (JIVE)（甚长基线干涉测量欧洲研究基础设施合作组织联合研究所）；University of New Mexico（新墨西哥大学）
OH231.8+4.2 is an archetypal pre-planetary nebulae (pPN). It is a binary system surrounded by bipolar nebula. Some years ago the authors extensively studied it and performed several VLBI observations from which they obtained mas-resolution maps of the SiO (7 mm) and H2O (1.3 cm) maser emissions. H2O masers were found to be distributed in two areas along the symmetry axis of the nebulae oriented nearly north-south delineating a bipolar outflow and their astrometric positions were accurately measured. SiO masers, indicating the position of the Mira component of the binary system, form a structur…
ATOMIUM: Inner circumstellar envelopes of oxygen-rich AGB stars as revealed by highly excited SiO lines
National Astronomical Research Institute of Thailand (Public Organization)（泰国国家天文研究所）；Jodrell Bank Centre for Astrophysics, The University of Manchester（曼彻斯特大学乔德雷尔银行天体物理学中心）；Laboratoire d’Astrophysique de Bordeaux, Univ. Bordeaux, CNRS（波尔多大学CNRS波尔多天体物理实验室）；School of Physics & Astronomy, Monash University（蒙纳士大学物理与天文学院）；Institute of Astronomy, KU Leuven（荷鲁汶大学天文研究所）；School of Chemistry, University of Leeds（利兹大学化学学院）；Leiden Observatory, Leiden University（莱顿大学莱登天文台）；Departament de Física, EEBE, Universitat Politècnica de Catalunya（加泰罗尼亚理工大学EEBE物理系）；Harvard-Smithsonian Center for Astrophysics（哈佛-史密森尼天体物理中心）；Universität zu Köln, Astrophysik/I. Physikalisches Institut（科隆大学天体物理/第一物理研究所）；California Institute of Technology, Jet Propulsion Laboratory（加州理工学院喷气推进实验室）；Theoretical Astrophysics, Department of Physics and Astronomy, Uppsala University（乌普萨拉大学物理与天文学院理论天体物理）；Department of Computer Science, University College London（伦敦大学学院计算机科学系）
通过高分辨率 ALMA 观测，研究氧丰富晚生星的内 circumstellar 包层，发现高激发 SiO 线的分布特征及与质量损失的关系。
