A database of circumstellar OH masers

TL;DR

This paper introduces a comprehensive, publicly accessible database of circumstellar OH masers in the Milky Way, compiling over 13,600 observations across multiple frequencies, with detailed source information and links to additional data.

Contribution

It provides the first extensive, curated database of circumstellar OH masers with standardized data and web access, covering observations from 1983 to 2014, including flux, velocity, and related information.

Findings

Database contains 13,655 observations of 2,341 stars.

Includes flux densities, velocities, and expansion velocities.

Accessible via web, Virtual Observatory, and VizieR.

Abstract

We present a new database of circumstellar OH masers at 1612, 1665, and 1667 MHz in the Milky Way galaxy. The database (version 2.4) contains 13655 observations and 2341 different stars detected in at least one transition. Detections at 1612\,MHz are considered to be complete until the end of 2014 as long as they were published in refereed papers. Detections of the main lines (1665 and 1667 MHz) and non-detections in all transitions are included only if published after 1983. The database contains flux densities and velocities of the two strongest maser peaks, the expansion velocity of the shell, and the radial velocity of the star. Links are provided for about 100 stars ($<$5\% of all stars with OH masers) to interferometric observations and monitoring programs of the maser emission published since their beginnings in the 1970s. Access to the database is possible over the Web (www.hs.uni-hamburg.de/maserdb), allowing cone searches for individual sources and lists of sources. A general search is possible in selected regions of the sky and by defining ranges of flux densities and/or velocities. Alternative ways to access the data are via the German Virtual Observatory and the VizieR library of astronomical catalogs.