Astronomers detect methanol maser emission towards nearby galaxy
https://phys.org/news/2017-08-astronomers-methanol-maser-emission-nearby.html
Using the Australia Telescope Compact Array (ATCA), a team of astronomers has detected methanol emission toward a nearby galaxy known as NGC 4945.
The finding, reported Aug. 18 in a paper published on arXiv.org, could be helpful in improving our understanding of star formation processes.
Maser lines of methanol are commonly detected toward regions of high-mass star formation. They are very widespread in our Milky Way galaxy, as they
have been detected in more than 1200 sources in the galaxy to date. Due to their rich spectrum of masing transitions, they could be used as a powerful
tool for probing star formation regions.
Scientists divide methanol masers into two groups: class I and class II. Class I masers are associated with the interaction of shocked gas with
molecular clouds, driven by outflows or expanding H II regions, while class II masers are closely associated with young stellar objects.
Now, a team of researchers led by Tiege McCarthy of the University of Tasmania in Hobart, Australia, reports the finding of a new class I methanol maser
beyond the Milky Way, toward NGC 4945. Located nearly 12 million light years away from the Earth, NGC 4945 is a barred spiral galaxy in the constellation
Centaurus, and one of the brightest galaxies of the Centaurus A/M83 Group (large, nearby group of galaxies).
