First detection of the $J_{-1}\rightarrow(J-$ 1)$_{0}-E$ methanol maser transitions at $J=7$ and $10$

TL;DR

This study reports the first detection of specific methanol maser transitions at J=7 and 10 in low-mass star-forming regions, expanding understanding of maser conditions and their occurrence in such environments.

Contribution

It is the first to identify methanol maser emission in the J=7 and 10 transitions in low-mass star-forming regions, extending the known frequency range of these masers.

Findings

Detected the J=7 and 10 methanol transitions in six sources.

Confirmed maser nature of the 10-1 transition in four sources.

Indicated conditions for Class I methanol masers in low-mass regions.

Abstract

Class\,I methanol masers provide sensitive information about the shocked environment around star-forming regions. Among the brightest Class~I methanol masers, we have those in the $J_{-1}\rightarrow(J-$ 1)$_{0}-E$ line series, currently reported for the $J=4-9$ transitions, with the only exception being the $J=7$ one at 181.295~GHz, and never expanded to higher $J$ transitions. We aim to search for population inversion in the $7_{-1}\rightarrow6_{0}-E$ and $10_{-1}\rightarrow9_{0}-E$ methanol transition lines at 181.295 and 326.961\,GHz, respectively, and also extend the number of known low-mass star-forming sources harboring Class\,I methanol masers. We employed the Atacama Pathfinder Experiment (APEX) 12\,m telescope to survey low-mass Galactic sources, focusing on methanol emission lines. We conducted rotation diagrams for all sources with detected $J=7$ methanol line transitions, while employing radiative transfer modeling (both in and out of local thermodynamic equilibrium) to characterize methanol excitation conditions in detail for one specific source with detected masers. We have detected the $7_{-1}\rightarrow6_{0}-E$ and $10_{-1}\rightarrow9_{0}-E$ methanol transitions in six out of nineteen sources. Among them, we firmly determined the $10_{-1}\rightarrow9_{0}-E$ maser nature in CARMA\,7, L1641N, NGC\,2024, and Serpens FIRS, and we claim for the presence of inverted population emission in the $7_{-1}\rightarrow6_{0}-E$ line toward CARMA\,7 and L1641N. This represents the first report of methanol maser emission in these particular transitions. Our study supports previous works indicating that conditions for Class\,I methanol maser emission are satisfied in low-mass star-forming regions and expands the range of detectable frequencies toward higher values.