1. ALMA detection of Masers and Dasars in the Hydrogen Recombination Lines of the Planetary Nebula Mz3
- Author
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Abraham, Z., Beaklini, P. P. B., Aleman, I., Sahai, R., Zijlstra, A., Akras, S., Gonçalves, D. R., and Ueta, T.
- Subjects
Astrophysics - Astrophysics of Galaxies ,Astrophysics - Solar and Stellar Astrophysics - Abstract
The hydrogen recombination lines H30$\alpha$, H40$\alpha$, H42$\alpha$, H50$\beta$ and H57$\gamma$ and the underlying bremsstrahlung continuum emission were detected with ALMA in the bipolar nebula Mz3. The source was not spatially resolved, but the velocity profile of the H30$\alpha$ line shows clear indication of maser amplification, confirming previous reports of laser amplification in the far infrared H recombination lines observed with Herschel Space Observatory. Comparison between the flux densities of the H50$\beta$, H40$\alpha$ and H42$\alpha$ lines show overcooling, or darkness amplification by stimulated absorption (dasar effect) at the LSR velocity of about $-25$ km s$^{-1}$, which constrains the density of the absorbing region to about 10$^3$ cm$^{-3}$. The H30$\alpha$ line, on the other hand, presents maser lines at LSR velocities of $-69$ and $-98$ km s$^{-1}$, which indicates ionized gas with densities close to 10$^7$ cm$^{-3}$. Although the source of emission was not resolved, it was possible to find the central position of the images for each velocity interval, which resulted in a well defined position-velocity distribution., Comment: Accepted for publication in The Astrophysical Journal
- Published
- 2024