An Unusually Powerful Water-Maser Flare in the Galactic Source W49N

L. N. Volvach; A. E. Volvach; M. G. Larionov; P. Wolak; B. Kramer; K. Menten; A. Kraus; J. Brand; A. Zanichelli; S. Poppi; S. Rigini; A. V. Ipatov; D. V. Ivanov; A. G. Mikhailov; A. Mel’nikov

doi:10.1134/S1063772919080067

An Unusually Powerful Water-Maser Flare in the Galactic Source W49N

Authors: Volvach L.N.¹, Volvach A.E.¹^,2, Larionov M.G.³, Wolak P.⁴, Kramer B.⁵, Menten K.⁵, Kraus A.⁵, Brand J.⁶^,7, Zanichelli A.⁶, Poppi S.⁸, Rigini S.⁶, Ipatov A.V.², Ivanov D.V.², Mikhailov A.G.², Mel’nikov A.²
Affiliations:
1. Department of Radio Astronomy and Geodynamics
2. Institute of Applied Astronomy
3. Astro Space Center, P. N. Lebedev Physical Institute
4. Torun Centre for Astronomy
5. Max-Planck-Institut für Radioastronomie
6. INAF—Istituto di Radioastronomia
7. Italian ALMA Regional Centre
8. INAF—Osservatorio Astronomico di Cagliari
Issue: Vol 63, No 8 (2019)
Pages: 652-665
Section: Article
URL: https://journals.rcsi.science/1063-7729/article/view/193033
DOI: https://doi.org/10.1134/S1063772919080067
ID: 193033

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Abstract

The most powerful flare ever registered in the Galactic water-maser source W49N has been detected in long-term monitoring data in the 6₁₆–5₂₃ transition with line frequency f = 22.235 GHz carried out on the 22-m Simeiz, 32-m Toruń, 100-m Effelsberg, and 32-m Medicina radio telescopes, beginning in September 2017 and continuing in 2018. Some stages of the flare were monitored daily. Detailed variations of the source spectral flux density with time have been obtained. At the flare maximum, the flux exceeded P ≈ 8 × 10⁴ Jy, and this was record highest flux registered over the entire history of observations of this source. Important conclusions related to details of the mechanism for the H₂O line emission have been drawn. An exponential increase in the flare flux density was detected during both the rise and decline of the flare. The data obtained indicate that the maser is unsaturated, and remained in this state up to the maximum observed flux densities. Additional support for the idea that the maser is unsaturated is the shape of the dependence of the line width on the flux. The characteristics of the variations of the spectral flux density are probably associated with a sharp increase in the density of the medium and the photon flux that led to an increase in the temperature from an initial level of 10–40 K to hundreds of Kelvins. Interferometric maps of the object during the increase in the spectral flux density of the flare have been obtained. A possible mechanism for the primary energy release in W49N is considered.

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An Unusually Powerful Water-Maser Flare in the Galactic Source W49N

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Abstract

About the authors

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