Andrew Yee
April 4th 06, 04:34 PM
ROYAL ASTRONOMICAL SOCIETY PRESS INFORMATION NOTE
EMBARGOED FOR 00:01 BST, TUESDAY, 4 APRIL 2006
Ref.: PN 06/14 (NAM7)
Issued by RAS Communications Officers:
Anita Heward
Tel: +44 (0)1483-420904
AND
Peter Bond
Tel: +44 (0)1483-268672 Fax: +44 (0)1483-274047
National Astronomy Meeting Press Room (4 - 7 April only):
Tel: +44 (0)116-229-7474 or 229-7475 or 252-3312 or 252-3531
Fax: +44 (0)116-252-3531
RAS Web site:
http://www.ras.org.uk/
RAS National Astronomy Meeting web site:
http://www.nam2006.le.ac.uk/index.shtml
CONTACT DETAILS ARE LISTED AT THE END OF THIS RELEASE.
UPGRADED MERLIN SPIES CLOUD OF ALCOHOL SPANNING 288 BILLION MILES
Astronomers based at Jodrell Bank Observatory have discovered
a giant bridge of methyl alcohol, spanning approximately 288
billion miles, wrapped around a stellar nursery. The gas cloud
could help our understanding of how the most massive stars in
our galaxy are formed.
The new observations were taken with the UK's MERLIN radio
telescopes, which have recently been upgraded. The team studied
an area called W3(OH), a region in our galaxy where stars are
being formed by the gravitational collapse of a cloud of gas
and dust. The observations have revealed giant filaments of
gas that are emitting as 'masers' (molecules in the gas are
amplifying and emitting beams of microwave radiation in much
the same way as a laser emits beams of light).
The filaments of masing gas form giant bridges between maser
'spots' in W3(OH) that had been observed previously. The largest
of these maser filaments is 288 billion miles (463 billion km)
long. Observations show that the entire gas cloud appears to be
rotating as a disc around a central star, in a similar manner
to the accretion discs in which planets form around young stars.
The maser filaments occur at shock boundaries where large
regions of gas are colliding.
"Our discovery is very interesting because it challenges some
long-accepted views held in astronomical maser research. Until
we found these filaments, we thought of masers as point-like
objects or very small bright hotspots surrounded by halos of
fainter emission," said Dr Lisa Harvey-Smith, who is the
Principal Investigator for the study and is presenting results
at the Royal Astronomical Societyıs National Astronomy Meeting
on 4 April.
Since the upgrade of the UK's MERLIN telescope network,
astronomers have been able to image methanol masers with a
much higher sensitivity and, for the first time, get a complete
picture of all the radiation surrounding maser sources. In the
new study, the Jodrell Bank team looked at the motion of the
W3(OH) star forming region in 3-dimensions and also measured
physical properties of the gas such as temperature, pressure
and the strength and direction of the magnetic fields. This
information is vital when testing theories about how stars
are born from the primordial gas in stellar nurseries.
Dr Harvey-Smith said, "There are still many unanswered questions
about the birth of massive stars because the formation centres
are shrouded by dust. The only radiation that can escape is at
radio wavelengths and the upgraded MERLIN network is now giving
us the first opportunity to look deep into these star forming
regions and see whatıs really going on."
The many different types of interactions between molecules
in star forming regions lead to emissions in many different
wavelengths. Future observations of masers at other frequencies
are planned to complete the complex jigsaw puzzle that has now
been revealed.
Dr Harvey-Smith adds, "Although it is exciting to discover a
cloud of alcohol almost 300 billion miles across, unfortunately
methanol, unlike its chemical cousin ethanol, is not suitable
for human consumption!"
IMAGES
Images can be found at:
http://www.jive.nl/~harvey/research.html
Captions:
[colour_w3.jpg]
The white circles show the methanol maser spots superimposed
on the star forming region. The left panel shows the extended
methanol (green) and hydroxyl (red) masers plotted over the
same region.
NOTES FOR EDITORS
MERLIN
MERLIN is the UK's radio imaging facility and is run on behalf
of PPARC by the University of Manchester. MERLIN is undergoing
an £8 million upgrade involving the installation of a 600km
dark fibre network and new broadband electronics; the new
facility, e-MERLIN, is expected to be complete in 2008.
Royal Astronomical Societyıs National Astronomy Meeting
The 2006 RAS National Astronomy Meeting is hosted by the
University of Leicester. It is sponsored by the Royal
Astronomical Society, the UK Particle Physics and Astronomy
Research Council (PPARC), the University of Leicester and
the National Space Centre, Leicester.
CONTACTS
The study was carried out by Dr Harvey-Smith as part of her
PPARC-funded Ph.D. project at Jodrell Bank under the supervision
of Dr Jim Cohen. Dr Harvey-Smith is now working at the JIVE
(Joint Institute for the VLBI (Very Long Baseline Interferometry)
in Europe).
Dr Lisa Harvey-Smith
Operations and Support Group
Joint Institute for VLBI in Europe
Postbus 27990 AA Dwingeloo
The Netherlands
Tel: +31 (0)521-596508
Fax: +31 (0)521-596539
Web: http://www.jive.nl/~harvey
From Tuesday 4th until the morning of Thursday 6th April, Dr
Harvey-Smith can be contacted via the NAM press office (see
above).
Dr. R. J. Cohen
The University of Manchester
Jodrell Bank Observatory
Macclesfield
Cheshire
SK11 9DL
United Kingdom
Tel: +44 (0)1477 571 321
Fax: +44 (0)1477 571 618
EMBARGOED FOR 00:01 BST, TUESDAY, 4 APRIL 2006
Ref.: PN 06/14 (NAM7)
Issued by RAS Communications Officers:
Anita Heward
Tel: +44 (0)1483-420904
AND
Peter Bond
Tel: +44 (0)1483-268672 Fax: +44 (0)1483-274047
National Astronomy Meeting Press Room (4 - 7 April only):
Tel: +44 (0)116-229-7474 or 229-7475 or 252-3312 or 252-3531
Fax: +44 (0)116-252-3531
RAS Web site:
http://www.ras.org.uk/
RAS National Astronomy Meeting web site:
http://www.nam2006.le.ac.uk/index.shtml
CONTACT DETAILS ARE LISTED AT THE END OF THIS RELEASE.
UPGRADED MERLIN SPIES CLOUD OF ALCOHOL SPANNING 288 BILLION MILES
Astronomers based at Jodrell Bank Observatory have discovered
a giant bridge of methyl alcohol, spanning approximately 288
billion miles, wrapped around a stellar nursery. The gas cloud
could help our understanding of how the most massive stars in
our galaxy are formed.
The new observations were taken with the UK's MERLIN radio
telescopes, which have recently been upgraded. The team studied
an area called W3(OH), a region in our galaxy where stars are
being formed by the gravitational collapse of a cloud of gas
and dust. The observations have revealed giant filaments of
gas that are emitting as 'masers' (molecules in the gas are
amplifying and emitting beams of microwave radiation in much
the same way as a laser emits beams of light).
The filaments of masing gas form giant bridges between maser
'spots' in W3(OH) that had been observed previously. The largest
of these maser filaments is 288 billion miles (463 billion km)
long. Observations show that the entire gas cloud appears to be
rotating as a disc around a central star, in a similar manner
to the accretion discs in which planets form around young stars.
The maser filaments occur at shock boundaries where large
regions of gas are colliding.
"Our discovery is very interesting because it challenges some
long-accepted views held in astronomical maser research. Until
we found these filaments, we thought of masers as point-like
objects or very small bright hotspots surrounded by halos of
fainter emission," said Dr Lisa Harvey-Smith, who is the
Principal Investigator for the study and is presenting results
at the Royal Astronomical Societyıs National Astronomy Meeting
on 4 April.
Since the upgrade of the UK's MERLIN telescope network,
astronomers have been able to image methanol masers with a
much higher sensitivity and, for the first time, get a complete
picture of all the radiation surrounding maser sources. In the
new study, the Jodrell Bank team looked at the motion of the
W3(OH) star forming region in 3-dimensions and also measured
physical properties of the gas such as temperature, pressure
and the strength and direction of the magnetic fields. This
information is vital when testing theories about how stars
are born from the primordial gas in stellar nurseries.
Dr Harvey-Smith said, "There are still many unanswered questions
about the birth of massive stars because the formation centres
are shrouded by dust. The only radiation that can escape is at
radio wavelengths and the upgraded MERLIN network is now giving
us the first opportunity to look deep into these star forming
regions and see whatıs really going on."
The many different types of interactions between molecules
in star forming regions lead to emissions in many different
wavelengths. Future observations of masers at other frequencies
are planned to complete the complex jigsaw puzzle that has now
been revealed.
Dr Harvey-Smith adds, "Although it is exciting to discover a
cloud of alcohol almost 300 billion miles across, unfortunately
methanol, unlike its chemical cousin ethanol, is not suitable
for human consumption!"
IMAGES
Images can be found at:
http://www.jive.nl/~harvey/research.html
Captions:
[colour_w3.jpg]
The white circles show the methanol maser spots superimposed
on the star forming region. The left panel shows the extended
methanol (green) and hydroxyl (red) masers plotted over the
same region.
NOTES FOR EDITORS
MERLIN
MERLIN is the UK's radio imaging facility and is run on behalf
of PPARC by the University of Manchester. MERLIN is undergoing
an £8 million upgrade involving the installation of a 600km
dark fibre network and new broadband electronics; the new
facility, e-MERLIN, is expected to be complete in 2008.
Royal Astronomical Societyıs National Astronomy Meeting
The 2006 RAS National Astronomy Meeting is hosted by the
University of Leicester. It is sponsored by the Royal
Astronomical Society, the UK Particle Physics and Astronomy
Research Council (PPARC), the University of Leicester and
the National Space Centre, Leicester.
CONTACTS
The study was carried out by Dr Harvey-Smith as part of her
PPARC-funded Ph.D. project at Jodrell Bank under the supervision
of Dr Jim Cohen. Dr Harvey-Smith is now working at the JIVE
(Joint Institute for the VLBI (Very Long Baseline Interferometry)
in Europe).
Dr Lisa Harvey-Smith
Operations and Support Group
Joint Institute for VLBI in Europe
Postbus 27990 AA Dwingeloo
The Netherlands
Tel: +31 (0)521-596508
Fax: +31 (0)521-596539
Web: http://www.jive.nl/~harvey
From Tuesday 4th until the morning of Thursday 6th April, Dr
Harvey-Smith can be contacted via the NAM press office (see
above).
Dr. R. J. Cohen
The University of Manchester
Jodrell Bank Observatory
Macclesfield
Cheshire
SK11 9DL
United Kingdom
Tel: +44 (0)1477 571 321
Fax: +44 (0)1477 571 618