Understanding the OH maser flare profiles in the high-mass star- forming region G009.62+0.20E

Project Description:

From Goedhart et al 2019, it has been shown that the mainline hydroxyl (OH) masers towards the star-forming region G009.62+0.20E show periodic behavior similar to the methanol masers in the source, however, the OH masers exhibit a dip in the flux density as the methanol starts to flare, after which it follows the flaring behavior as the methanol masers. The positions of the two species of masers do not coincide and the proposed idea is that the higher energy photons that can travel beyond the ionization front of the Hii region get absorbed and cause an increase in the electron temperature of local gas where the OH masers reside, the increased electron temperature cause a temporary decrease in the free-free emission. After the electron temperature returns to equilibrium the free-free emission returns to normal and follows the flare profile similar to the methanol masers. The aim is to do photo- ionization calculations for the higher energy photons that get absorbed beyond the ionization front to determine if the dip is caused by this effect.

Research Area:

Astrophysics

Project Level:

Masters

This Project Is Offered At The Following Node(s):

(NWU)

Special Requirements:

Advanced programming skills.