Observational evidence for massive black holes in the centers of active galaxies     

J. M. Moran  L. J. Greenhill  J. R. Herrnstein 《Journal of Astrophysics and Astronomy》1999,20(3-4):165-185

Naturally occurring water vapor maser emission at 1.35 cm wavelength provides an accurate probe for the study of accretion disks around highly compact objects, thought to be black holes, in the centers of active galaxies. Because of the exceptionally fine angular resolution, 200 microarcseconds, obtainable with very long baseline interferometry, accompanied by high spectral resolution, <0.1 km s^-1, the dynamics and structures of these disks can be probed with exceptional clarity. The data on the galaxy NGC 4258 are discussed here in detail. The mass of the black hole binding the accretion disk is 3·9 × 10⁷ M_⊙. Although the accretion disk has a rotational period of about 800 years, the physical motions of the masers have been directly measured with VLBI over a period of a few years. These measurements also allow the distance from the earth to the black hole to be estimated to an accuracy of 4 per cent. The status of the search for other maser/black hole candidates is also discussed.  相似文献   

High resolution radio recombination line observations     

P. R. Roelfsema  W. M. Goss 《Astronomy and Astrophysics Review》1992,4(2):161-214

Summary Over the last decade sensitive observations of radio recombination line emission using high angular resolution synthesis telescopes have become available. As a result it has now become possible to image the physical parameters deduced from radio recombination lines across individual sources. In the case of HII regions this work has resulted in detailed images of radial velocities, electron temperatures and the abundance of singly ionized helium (Y⁺). Direct observational evidence has been found for pressure broadening and non-LTE effects. Dramatic variations have been found in the ratio of He⁺ to H⁺, from as low as a few percent (the galactic centre) to as high 34% in one region of W3. Detailed images have been obtained of the partially ionized medium (CII and H regions) close to HII regions. Observations of recombination lines at very low frequencies have revealed the existence of very low density ionized gas in all directions in our galaxy. Higher resolution observations have led to a partial understanding of this medium. The first complete velocity field of the ionized gas in the centre of our galaxy has been obtained. Very recently the first images were made of extragalactic radio recombination lines, offering the possibility to study the kinematics of the ionized gas in the central few hundred parsecs of external galaxies.  相似文献   

The circumstellar envelope of S persei     

A. M. S. Richards  R. J. Cohen  J. A. Yates 《Astrophysics and Space Science》1995,224(1-2):545-546

We present MERLIN observations of OH and H₂O masers in the circumstellar envelope of S Per. The results are consistent with a model of a thick shell of H₂O masers in a region which is still accelerating.  相似文献   

羟基的切仑科夫射电发射谱线     

李守中  尤峻汉 《中国天文和天体物理学报》1986,(4)

本文提出用切仑科夫射电谱线发射机制解释分子云的非热发射谱线。相对论电子在某种粒子数反转布居的分子云中穿行时,可以产生具有反常强度比的微波发射谱线。对与超新星遗迹成协的Ⅱ_(?)类OH源的非热平衡发射谱线所作的计算表明,这种非热辐射机制可能成为解决天体脉塞理论困难的一种有希望的途径。  相似文献