Water Masers in the Andromeda Galaxy: The First Step Toward Proper Motion
Jeremy Darling

TL;DR
This study detected water masers in M31 to enable precise proper motion and distance measurements, crucial for understanding Local Group dynamics and dark matter profiles, with potential for rapid and long-term observations.
Contribution
First detection of water masers in M31 suitable for proper motion studies, providing a new method to measure galaxy dynamics and distance with high precision.
Findings
Detected five water masers in M31 using the Green Bank Telescope.
Masers are distributed around the molecular ring, ideal for proper motion measurements.
No correlation found between IR luminosity and maser luminosity, indicating unpredictable maser brightness.
Abstract
We have detected and confirmed five water maser complexes in the Andromeda Galaxy (M31) using the Green Bank Telescope. These masers will provide the high brightness temperature point sources needed for proper motion studies of M31, enabling measurement of its full three-dimensional velocity vector and its geometric distance via proper rotation. The motion of M31 is the keystone of Local Group dynamics and a gateway to the dark matter profiles of galaxies in general. Our survey for water masers selected 206 luminous compact 24 micron-emitting regions in M31 and was sensitive enough to detect any maser useful for ~10 microarcsecond per year astrometry. The newly discovered masers span the isotropic luminosity range 0.3-1.9 x 10^-3 L(Sun) in single spectral components and are analogous to luminous Galactic masers. The masers are distributed around the molecular ring, including locations…
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Taxonomy
TopicsAstrophysics and Star Formation Studies · Stellar, planetary, and galactic studies · Spectroscopy and Laser Applications
