H₂CO Observations Towards CH₃OH Maser Sources

Abstract

Formaldehyde (H₂CO) is an accurate probe of physical conditions in dense and low-temperature molecular clouds towards massive star formation regions, while 6.7 GHz methanol (CH₃OH) masers provide ideal sites to probe the earliest stages of massive stellar formation. We present preliminary results of our investigation into the possible relationship between formaldehyde and methanol astrophysical masers with the view to expanding knowledge on massive star formation processes. Observations are done using the Nanshan 25m radio telescope of the Xinjiang Astronomical Observatories, Urumqi, China. 127 Methanol sources (from the work of Green et al. 2010, Xu et al. 2003, Pestalozzi et al. 2005, and Xu et al. 2009) have been observed so far for 4.8 GHz formaldehyde absorption lines, and H₂CO signals have been detected in 86 of them, 31 of which are newly discovered. We obtained good correlation (0.85 correlation coefficient) between the velocities of the sources, and a poor correlation (−0.03 correlation coefficient) between their intensities, an indication that signals from the two lines originate from about the same region, but that the excitation mechanisms that drive them are likely different.