Circumstellar masers in the Magellanic Clouds

TL;DR

This paper reviews the study of circumstellar masers in the Magellanic Clouds, highlighting how metallicity affects stellar wind properties and the implications for understanding mass loss in different environments.

Contribution

It provides a comprehensive review of past maser surveys in the Magellanic Clouds and discusses future prospects for studying stellar mass loss at low metallicities.

Findings

Metallicity influences wind speed and dust formation in evolved stars.

Past surveys have identified various masers in the Magellanic Clouds.

Future surveys will enhance understanding of mass-loss mechanisms.

Abstract

The nearby dwarf irregular galaxies the Large and Small Magellanic Clouds have metallicities of about half and a fifth solar, respectively, which offers the unique opportunity to study astrophysical processes as a function of metallicity. Masers in the outflows from evolved stars allow to measure the wind speed, vital to derive mass-loss rates and test wind driving mechanisms. The metallicity dependence of the wind speed in particular allows us to make inferences about dust formation and mass loss in the early Universe. I will review past surveys for circumstellar OH, water, and SiO masers in the Magellanic Clouds (and provide a literature review of interstellar masers). I will then discuss the way these measurements have influenced our understanding of mass loss, and end with outlining the prospects for future surveys for OH masers in the Magellanic Clouds.