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F. Yusef-Zadeh (Northwestern U.), M. Wardle (University of Sydney), D.A. Roberts (Northwestern U.), J. Rho (IPAC)
Recent radio surveys of SNRs in the Galaxy have uncovered about 20 SNR OH (1720 MHz) masers. These unusual masers are thought to be formed behind a shock front produced by the expansion of supernova remnants into molecular clouds. An important ingredient of this model is that X-ray emission from the remnant enhances the production of the OH molecule in the shocked gas. We present two sets of observations that support this model: i) A strong correlation between SNR masers and mixed-morphology SNRs (ie center-filled thermal X-ray emission surrounded by shell-like radio emission). ii) The presence of main line OH (1665 MHz) line absorption behind the shock front is detected toward SNR W28.
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Bulletin of the American Astronomical Society, 34
© 2002. The American Astronomical Soceity.