Ammonia Masers in W51: Interferometric Studies
Résumé
The galactic continuum sources W51D and W51e1e2 have been long recognized as remarkable centers of ammonia maser phenomena in the centimeter wavelength range. Henkel et al. (2013 A&A 549, A90) have measured 19 masers, of which 13 are newly found for W51-IRS2, otherwise known as W51D. These arise from inversion-rotation transitions. The single dish data were taken with the Effelsberg 100-m radio telescope of the MPIfR with an angular resolution of 43 arc seconds. The conclusion that these lines were caused by maser action is based on: (1) time variability, and (2) narrow linewidths. In addition, some lines showed systematic velocity variations. High brightness temperatures and compact sizes are needed to conclusively prove maser action. We have measured a sub-set of these ammonia lines with the C array of the Jansky-Very Large Array of the National Radio Astronomy Observatory in June 2013 with an angular resolution of better than 1 arc second. Source sizes, positions, excitation models and reasons why W51 shows such a plethora of masers will be presented.