VLA observations of the "water fountain" IRAS 16552-3050
arXiv:0809.0392 · doi:10.1086/592493
Abstract
We present Very Large Array (VLA) observations of the water maser emission towards IRAS 16552-3050. The maser emission shows a velocity spread of ~170 km/s, and a bipolar distribution with a separation between the red and blueshifted groups of ~0.08". These observations and the likely post-AGB nature of the source indicate that IRAS 16552-3050 can be considered as a member of the "water fountain" class of sources (evolved stars showing H2O maser emission with a velocity spread $\ga$ 100 km/s, probably tracing collimated jets). The water maser emission in IRAS 16552-3050 does not seem to be associated with with any known optical counterpart. Moreover, this source does not have a near-IR 2MASS counterpart, as it happens in about half of the water fountains known. This suggests that these sources tend to be heavily obscured objects, probably with massive precursors ($\ga 4-5$ M). We suggest that the water maser emission in IRAS 16552-3050 could be tracing a rapidly precessing bipolar jet.
arXiv comment15 pages, 4 figures. Accepted by ApJ
References in corpus (12)
- A spectroscopic atlas of post-AGB stars and planetary nebulae selected from the IRAS Point Source Catalogue
- A magnetically collimated jet from an evolved star
- Bipolar outflows in OH/IR stars
- H2O Maser Observations of Candidate Post-AGB Stars and Discovery of Three High-velocity Water Sources
- OH-selected AGB and post-AGB objects I.Infrared and maser properties
- The spatio-kinematical structure and distance of the pre-planetary nebula IRAS 19134+2131
- OH Maser Observations of Planetary Nebulae Precursors
- OH 12.8-0.9: A New Water-Fountain Source
- New detections of H2O masers in planetary nebulae and post-AGB stars using the Robledo-70m antenna
- A shock-excited OH maser in a post-AGB envelope ?
- Water Maser Kinematics in the Jet of OH 12.8-0.9
- An infrared study of galactic OH/IR stars. II. The `GLMP sample' of red oxygen-rich AGB stars
Cited by in corpus (16)
- High Velocity Precessing Jets from the Water Fountain IRAS 18286-0959 Revealed by VLBA Observations
- IRAS 18113-2503: the water fountain with the fastest jet?
- Observational identification of a sample of likely recent Common-Envelope Events
- Water maser detections in southern candidates to post-AGB stars and Planetary Nebulae
- Proper Motions of H2O Masers in the Water Fountain Source IRAS 19190+1102
- The first "water fountain" collimated outflow in a planetary nebula
- Rapidly-evolving episodic outflow in IRAS 18113-2503: clues to the ejection mechanism of the fastest water fountain
- Maser and Infrared Studies of Oxygen-Rich Late/Post-AGB Stars and Water Fountains: Development of a New Identification Method
- From the ashes: JVLA observations of water fountain nebula candidates show the rebirth of IRAS 18455+0448
- Interferometric confirmation of "water fountain" candidates
- Sensitive CO and 13CO survey of water fountain stars. Detections towards IRAS 18460-0151 and IRAS 18596+0315
- Extremely Strong ^{13}CO J=3-2 Line in the "Water Fountain" IRAS 16342-3814: Evidence for the Hot-Bottom Burning
- CO J=3-2 Emission from the "Water Fountain" Sources IRAS 16342-3814 and IRAS 18286-0959
- Do Water Fountain Jets Really Indicate the Onset of the Morphological Metamorphosis of Circumstellar Envelopes?
- Evolution of the outflow in the water fountain source IRAS 180432116
- Maser emission during post-AGB evolution