Skip to content
Home
About Us
Resources
Profiles Metrics
Authors Directory
Institutions Directory
Top Authors
Top Institutions
Top Sponsors
AI Digest
Contact Us
Menu
Home
About Us
Resources
Profiles Metrics
Authors Directory
Institutions Directory
Top Authors
Top Institutions
Top Sponsors
AI Digest
Contact Us
Home
About Us
Resources
Profiles Metrics
Authors Directory
Institutions Directory
Top Authors
Top Institutions
Top Sponsors
AI Digest
Contact Us
Menu
Home
About Us
Resources
Profiles Metrics
Authors Directory
Institutions Directory
Top Authors
Top Institutions
Top Sponsors
AI Digest
Contact Us
Publication Details
AFRICAN RESEARCH NEXUS
SHINING A SPOTLIGHT ON AFRICAN RESEARCH
earth and planetary sciences
On the number and lifetime of 6.7-GHz methanol masers
Monthly Notices of the Royal Astronomical Society, Volume 360, No. 1, Year 2005
Notification
URL copied to clipboard!
Description
A statistical estimate of the number of 6.1-GHz methanol masers in the Milky Way and their lifetime is presented. The estimate is based on the currently known number of masers, a realistic correction for sensitivity effects and generally accepted Galactic star formation rates and initial mass functions. The analysis suggests that the minimum number of masers in the Galaxy is of the order of 850 while a more realistic estimate of the total number of masers is of the order of 1200 ± 84. The lifetime is estimated to be between 2.5 × 104 and 4.5 × 104 yr, with the variation being due to the use of different initial mass functions. The estimated lifetime agrees with that found from independent studies and agrees remarkably well with the time-scale for the chemical evolution of methanol in hot cores as well as with the dynamical time-scales of molecular outflows associated with high-mass star formation regions. It is shown that the hypothesis of the masers being associated with propagating planar shocks in cores or clumps results in lifetimes for the masers that are smaller by a factor of 2 or more compared with the lifetime of methanol masers as estimated here. © 2005 RAS.
Authors & Co-Authors
Van Der Walt, Johan
South Africa, Potchefstroom
North-west University
Statistics
Citations: 52
Authors: 1
Affiliations: 1
Identifiers
Doi:
10.1111/j.1365-2966.2005.09026.x
ISSN:
00358711