A comprehensive search for extragalactic 6.7-GHz methanol masers

Abstract

We have used the Australia Telescope Compact Array (ATCA) to search for 6.7-GHz methanol maser emission towards 87 galaxies. We chose the target sources using several criteria, including far-IR luminosities and the presence of known OH megamasers. In addition, we searched for methanol masers in the nearby starburst galaxy NGC 253, making a full spectral-line synthesis image. No emission was detected in any galaxies, with detection limits ranging from 25 mJy to 75 mJy. This is surprising, given the close association of OH and methanol masers in Galactic star-formation regions, and significantly constrains models of OH megamaser emission. This absence of maser emission may be a result of low methanol abundances in molecular clouds in starburst galaxies.

7 Pages, no figures, Accepted for publication in MNRAS

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• New H2O masers in Seyfert and FIR bright galaxies. III. The Southern Sample
• Detection of HC${}_3$N maser emission in NGC253
• 36 GHz methanol lines from nearby galaxies: maser or quasi-thermal emission?
• Astrophysical constraints on the proton-to-electron mass ratio with FAST
• The Maser-Starburst connection in NGC253