Masers and Star Formation

Purpose

To study the properties of maser sources, and use them to understand the processes of star formation. This includes studying maser emission at other wavelengths, and continuum emission at radio, optical, and infrared wavelengths, from these sources.

People

ATNF

James Caswell (project coordinator)
Maxim Voronkov
Jimi Green
Shari Breen
John Reynolds

External Collaborators

Gary Fuller, University of Manchester, (Jodrell Bank Observatory)
Busaba Hutawarakorn Kramer, MPIfR Bonn
Rick Forster, University of California, Berkeley (BIMA)
Dinah Cragg, Monash University
Andrej Sobolev, Ural State University
Simon Ellingsen, University of Tasmania

Specific Projects and Some Key Publications:

Catalogues and Surveys for new masers

Green J.A., et al. 2010 MNRAS, 4??, ???
Caswell J.L., et al. 2010 MNRAS, 404, 1029
Caswell J.L., et al. 2009 PASA, 26, 454
quite a few not yet entered on this list
Caswell J.L., 2001 MNRAS, 326, 805
Forster J.R., Caswell J.L., 1999 A&AS, 137, 43
Caswell J.L., 1998, MNRAS 297, 215
Caswell J.L., Yi J., Booth R.S., Cragg D.M., 2000 MNRAS 313, 599
Caswell J.L., Vaile R.A., Ellingsen S.P., Whiteoak J.B., Norris R.P. 1995 MNRAS 272, 96

Studies of selected sources in OH, methanol, radio continuum, infrared

Caswell J.L., Hutawarakorn Kramer B., Sukom A. Reynolds J.E., 2010
Caswell J.L., Hutawarakorn Kramer B., Reynolds J.E., 2001 MNRAS 2009
Forster J.R., Caswell J.L., 2000 ApJ 530, 371
Caswell J.L., 1997 MNRAS 289 203

Are methanol masers in circumstellar disks?

Norris R.P. et al. 1998 ApJ 508, 275

Studies of variability and polarisation

Caswell J.L., Vaile R.A., Ellingsen S.P., 1995 PASA 12, 37

Interpretation of multi transition studies

Cragg D.M., Sobolev A.M., Godfrey P.D., 2002 MNRAS, 331, 521
Cragg D.M., Sobolev A.M., Ellingsen S.P., Caswell J.L., Godfrey P.D.,Salii S.V., Dodson R.G., 2001 MNRAS, 323, 929

Millimetre observations of molecular lines from maser host sources
VLBI Proper motion studies

Other Maser Research Projects

Jodrell Bank Observatory

A joint project with JBO to conduct a new methanol survey of the whole Galactic plane is now underway, which has entailed the contruction of a 7-beam receiver that can be used on both the Parkes 64m telescope and the JBO Lovell upgraded telescope. See /technology/future on the ATNF web page.