G 10.472+0.027: An extreme water maser outflow associated with a massive protostellar cluster

Abstract

An Australia Telescope Compact Array search for 22 GHz water masers toward 6.7 GHz class II methanol masers detected in the Methanol Multibeam survey has resulted in the detection of extremely high-velocity emission from one of the sources. The water maser emission associated with this young stellar object covers a velocity span of nearly 300 km s-1. The highest velocity water maser emission is redshifted from the systemic velocity by 250 km s -1, which is a new record for high-mass star formation regions. The maser is associated with a very young late O, or early B star, which may still be actively accreting matter (and driving the extreme outflow). If that is the case, future observations of the kinematics of this water maser will provide a unique probe of accretion processes in the highest mass young stellar objects and test models of water maser formation. © 2013. The American Astronomical Society. All rights reserved.