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H_2O Megamasers: Accretion Disks, Jet Interaction, Outflows or Massive Star Formation?

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Abstract

The 25 years following the serendipitous discovery of megamasers have seen tremendous progress in the study of luminous extragalactic H2O emission. Single-dish monitoring and high-resolution interferometry have been used to identify sites of massive star formation, to study the interaction of nuclear jets with dense molecular gas and to investigate the circumnuclear environment of active galactic nuclei (AGN). Accretion disks with radii of 0.1–3 pc were mapped and masses of nuclear engines of order 106–108 M⊙ were determined. So far, ∼50 extragalactic H2O maser sources have been detected, but few have been studied in detail.

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Authors and Affiliations

  1. Max-Planck-Institut für Radioastronomie, Auf dem Hügel 69, Bonn, Germany

    C. Henkel & M. Wang

  2. NRAO, Green Bank, WV, USA

    J. A. Braatz

  3. Istituto di Radioastronomia, CNR, Via Gobetti 101, Bologna, Italy

    A. Tarchi

  4. INAF-Osservatorio Astronomico di Cagliari, Loc. Poggio dei Pini, Strada 54, Capoterra (CA), Italy

    A. Tarchi

  5. Harvard-Smithsonian Center for Astrophysics, SAO/SMA Project, 645 N. A’ohoku Pl., Hilo, HI, USA

    A. B. Peck

  6. Kapteyn Instituut, AV Groningen, The Netherlands

    N. M. Nagar

  7. Harvard-Smithsonian Center for Astrophysics, 60 Garden Street, Cambridge, MA, USA

    L. J. Greenhill

  8. ASTRON/Westerbork Radio Observatory, NL-Dwingeloo 7990 AA, The Netherlands

    Y. Hagiwara

Authors
  1. C. Henkel
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  2. J. A. Braatz
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  3. A. Tarchi
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  4. A. B. Peck
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  5. N. M. Nagar
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  6. L. J. Greenhill
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  7. M. Wang
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  8. Y. Hagiwara
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Correspondence to C. Henkel.

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Henkel, C., Braatz, J.A., Tarchi, A. et al. H_2O Megamasers: Accretion Disks, Jet Interaction, Outflows or Massive Star Formation?. Astrophys Space Sci 295, 107–116 (2005). https://doi.org/10.1007/s10509-005-3668-z

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  • DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/s10509-005-3668-z

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