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Interferometric Observation of the Highly Polarized SiO Maser Emission from the v = 1, J = 5-4 Transition Associated with VY Canis Majoris

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Hiroko Shinnaga1,2, James M. Moran3, Ken H. Young3 and Paul T. P. Ho3

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We used the Submillimeter Array to image the SiO maser emission in the v = 1, J = 5-4 transition associated with the peculiar red supergiant VY Canis Majoris. We identified seven maser components and measured their relative positions and linear polarization properties. Five of the maser components are coincident to within about 150 mas (~200 AU at the distance of 1.5 kpc); most of them may originate in the circumstellar envelope at a radius of about 50 mas from the star along with the SiO masers in the lowest rotational transitions. Our measurements show that two of the maser components may be offset from the inner stellar envelope (at the 3 σ level of significance) and may be part of a larger bipolar outflow associated with VY CMa identified by Shinnaga et al. The strongest maser feature at a velocity of 35.9 km s-1 has a 60% linear polarization, and its polarization direction is aligned with the bipolar axis. Such a high degree of polarization suggests that maser inversion is due to radiative pumping. Five of the other maser features have significant linear polarization.


Subject headings

masers; polarization; radio lines: general; stars: individual (VY Canis Majoris); stars: late-type; techniques: interferometric


Dates

Issue 1 (2004 November 20)

Received 2004 May 12, accepted for publication 2004 August 16

Published 2004 October 28


An Erratum for this article has been published in 2004 ApJ 617 L93


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