| 20th of March 2023 |
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| IAU Maser Symposium |
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IAU Symposium 380,
"Cosmic Masers: Proper Motion toward the Next-Generation Large Projects"
is being held this week in Kagoshima, Japan.
Cosmic masers -- the naturally occurring microwave analogues of lasers --
are unique probes of various objects, ranging from young
stellar objects, asymptotic giant branch (AGB) and post-AGB
stars, the interstellar medium and the Milky Way Galaxy, to active
galactic nuclei. Thanks to their high brightness and narrow
spectral features, a number of maser observations using large radio
interferometers and very long baseline interferometers (VLBI) have
provided high spatial and spectral resolution images, three
dimensional velocity fields including proper motions, and annual
parallaxes, enabling their basic physical properties to be determined.
Since the last IAU Sympsoium on cosmic masers in 2017, the Atacama Large Millimeter/submillimeter Array (ALMA) has achieved comparable resolution to those of previous longer wavelength interferometers. Future large projects such as the Square Kilometre Array (SKA) and the next generation Very Large Array (ngVLA) will put forward key science projects utilizing masers. Time-domain and multi-wavelength observations will provide powerful tools to investigate dynamical phenomena in maser sources. Thus, the Symposium this week is a timely opportunity to start discussion on future sciences and synergies with other large scale observations at additional wavelength regimes. Results from ATNF telescopes will be presented during the week, including ASKAP, the ATCA and the Long Baseline Array. |