Astronomy Group - Korinne McDonnell
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My PhD research is looking at the interaction of supernova remnants with molecular clouds.
As massive stars do not drift far from the molecular clouds they were formed in, the interaction of supernova remnants and molecular clouds should be common.
Signatures such as kinematics and disturbed morphology have been used as the primary evidence of such interactions, but the interpretation was usually inconclusive.
The discovery of 1720 MHz OH masers in supernova remnants, created in the shocked region, provided a solid diagnostic of the interaction and provided information such as the kinematic distance of the remnant. However, only 1 in 10 galactic supernova remnants surveyed have this maser line.
Modelling suggests that there may be another OH transition produced for higher OH column densities in the interaction, a maser line at 6049 MHz, which could be another signature of the interaction. As a part of my PhD project I have observed supernova remnants believed to be interacting with molecular clouds at 6049 MHz using Parkes, ATCA and the EVLA. So far we have found no 6049 MHz OH masers.
Maser brightness temperature limit from the Parkes 6049 MHz OH maser search gives a limit on the OH column density. See McDonnell et al. 2008 for details.