A catalog of 44 GHz methanol masers in massive star-forming regions. IV. The high-mass protostellar object sample

TL;DR

This study surveys 56 massive star-forming regions, detecting 44 GHz methanol masers, and analyzes their associations with outflows, HII regions, shocks, and EGOs, revealing insights into maser properties and potential low-mass protostar associations.

Contribution

First comprehensive VLA survey of 44 GHz methanol masers in massive star-forming regions with detailed association analysis and potential low-mass protostar linkages.

Findings

24 of 56 regions showed maser emission.

83 maser components with median linewidth 1.1 km/s.

Most masers correlate with EGOs indicating younger sources.

Abstract

We present a survey of 56 massive star-forming regions in the 44 GHz methanol maser transition made with the Karl G. Jansky Very Large Array (VLA); 24 of the 56 fields showed maser emission. The data allow us to demonstrate associations, at arcsecond precision, of the Class I maser emission with outflows, HII regions, and shocks traced by 4.5 micron emission. We find a total of 83 maser components with linewidths ranging from 0.17 to 3.3 km s$^{-1}$ with a nearly flat distribution and a median value of 1.1 km s$^{-1}$. The relative velocities of the masers with respect to the systemic velocity of the host clouds range from $-$2.5 to 3.1 km s$^{-1}$ with a distribution peaking near zero. We also study the correlation between the masers and the so-called extended green objects (EGOs) from the GLIMPSE survey. Multiple sources in each field are revealed from IR images as well as from centimeter continuum emission from VLA archival data; in the majority of cases the 44 GHz masers are positionally correlated with EGOs which seem to trace the younger sources in the fields. We report a possible instance of a 44 GHz maser associated with a low-mass protostar. If confirmed, this region will be the fifth known star-forming region that hosts Class I masers associated with low-mass protostars. We discuss three plausible cases of maser variability.