Evidence for Zeeman Splitting in 1720 MHz OH Line Emission (9),

Abstract

A number of 1720-MHz OH maser sources have relatively simple spectra consisting of doublets with opposite senses of circular polarization. Such doublets could be due to the Zeeman splitting of the doublet Pi(3/2)F = 2 to 1 transition. A 3-station VLBI experiment was conducted to measure the spatial separation of the emitting regions of the components of opposite sense polarization. The doublets in the 1720-MHz OH spectra of W3(OH), W51, NGC6334(N) and NGC7538(N) are found to be spatially coincident to within a linear dimension of about 100 Au, suggesting that they originate from the same region in space. This is taken to be strong evidence for identifying the doublets as Zeeman components. The magnetic field within the OH maser sources responsible for the observed splitting is typically a few times .001 gauss.

Document Details

Document Type
Technical Report
Publication Date
Jan 01, 1975
Accession Number
ADA011147

Entities

People

  • J. M. Moran
  • K. J. Johnson
  • K. Y. Lo
  • M. S. Ewing
  • Roger C. Walker

Organizations

  • Owens Valley Radio Observatory

Tags

DTIC Thesaurus Topics

  • Circular Polarization
  • Emission
  • Magnetic Fields
  • Polarity
  • Polarization
  • Spectra
  • Splitting
  • Transitions

Fields of Study

  • Physics

Readers

  • Astronomy and Astrophysics.
  • Optical Physics and Photonics.
  • Theoretical Analysis.

Technology Areas

  • Space