OH Masers and Supernova Remnants
Mark Wardle, Korinne McDonnell (Macquarie University)

TL;DR
This study investigates the presence of 6049 MHz OH masers in supernova remnants, finding no detections despite evidence of high OH column densities, and explores possible reasons for this absence.
Contribution
The paper provides observational searches for 6049 MHz OH masers in supernova remnants and models OH absorption to assess column densities, highlighting the potential role of line overlap in maser suppression.
Findings
No 6049 MHz masers detected in 41 remnants.
OH column densities exceeding 10^{17} cm^{-2} are present.
Line overlap may suppress maser inversion.
Abstract
OH(1720 MHz) masers are created by the interaction of supernova remnants with molecular clouds. These masers are pumped by collisions in warm, shocked molecular gas with OH column densities in the range 10^{16}--10^{17} cm^{-2}. Excitation calculations suggest that inversion of the 6049 MHz OH line may occur at the higher column densities that have been inferred from main-line absorption studies of supernova remnants with the Green Bank Telescope. OH(6049 MHz) masers have therefore been proposed as a complementary indicator of remnant-cloud interaction. This motivated searches for 6049 MHz maser emission from supernova remnants using the Parkes 63 m and Effelsberg 100 m telescopes, and the Australia Telescope Compact Array. A total of forty-one remnants have been examined by one or more of these surveys, but without success. To check the accuracy of the OH column densities inferred…
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