A Search for Water Masers in the Saturnian System

TL;DR

This study conducted sensitive searches for water maser emissions at 22.235 GHz from Saturnian satellites but found no detections, suggesting such emissions are either very weak or sporadic, requiring further long-term monitoring.

Contribution

First comprehensive search for water masers in the Saturnian system using the Nobeyama 45m telescope, providing upper limits and insights into the nature of such emissions.

Findings

No water maser emission detected from observed satellites.

Water maser emission in the Saturnian system is likely very weak or sporadic.

Further long-term monitoring needed for conclusive understanding.

Abstract

We searched for H2O 6(1,6)-5(2,3) maser emission at 22.235 GHz from several Saturnian satellites with the Nobeyama 45m radio telescope in May 2009. Observations were made for Titan, Hyperion, Enceladus and Atlas, for which Pogrebenko et al. (2009) had reported detections of water masers at 22.235 GHz, and in addition for Iapetus and other inner satellites. We detected no emission of the water maser line for all the satellites observed, although sensitivities of our observations were comparable or even better than those of Pogrebenko et al.. We infer that the water maser emission from the Saturnian system is extremely weak, or sporadic in nature. Monitoring over a long period and obtaining statistical results must be made for the further understanding of the water maser emission in the Saturnian system.