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Periodic methanol masers and colliding wind binaries

Published online by Cambridge University Press:  16 July 2018

Stefanus P. van den Heever ,
D. J. van der Walt ,
J. M. Pittard  and
M. G. Hoare
Stefanus P. van den Heever
Affiliation:
Hartebeeshoek Radio Astronomy Observatory, Krugersdorp, South Africa email: [email protected]
D. J. van der Walt
Affiliation:
Center for Space Research, North-West University, Potchefstroom, South Africa
J. M. Pittard
Affiliation:
Dept. Physics and Astronomy, University of Leeds, Leeds, England
M. G. Hoare
Affiliation:
Dept. Physics and Astronomy, University of Leeds, Leeds, England
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Abstract

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Since the discovery of periodic variability of Class II methanol masers associated with high-mass star formation, several possible driving mechanisms have been proposed to explain this phenomenon. Here the colliding wind binary (CWB) hypothesis is proposed to describe the periodic variability. It is shown that the recombination of a partially ionized gas describes the flare profiles remarkably well. In addition, the quiescent state flux density is also described remarkably well by the time-dependent change of the electron density. This suggests that the periodicity is caused by the time-dependent change in the radio free-free emission from the background HII regions against which the maser is projected.

Keywords

masersISM: HII regionsradio continuum: ISMstars: mass lossX-rays: Binaries
Type
Contributed Papers
Information
Proceedings of the International Astronomical Union , Volume 13 , Symposium S336: Astrophysical Masers: Unlocking the Mysteries of the Universe , September 2017 , pp. 327 - 328
Copyright
Copyright © International Astronomical Union 2018 

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