Extragalactic H2O Masers

Abstract

Study of extragalactic H2O masers has progressed significantly in the 25 years since their discovery. Existing in star forming regions and in the accretion disks supermassive black holes, they are familiar and unfamiliar at the same time. A review of how our understanding has grown, up to the present day, is followed by comments on future prospects.

To appear in the proceedings of IAU Symposium #206: Cosmic Masers (Mangaratiba, Brazil; March 2001); 11 pages. Uses newpasp.sty