FASHI: A search for extragalactic OH megamasers with FAST

Abstract

The FAST All Sky HI survey (FASHI) is broader in frequency band and sky volume, and deeper in detection sensitivity than the Arecibo Legacy Fast ALFA survey (ALFALFA). To efficiently expand the sample of OH megamasers (OHMs), whose strongest line has a rest frequency of 1667.35903 MHz, we directly matched the IRAS Point Source Catalog Redshift (PSCz) catalog with the corresponding FASHI data cube. From 145 PSCz sources already covered by FASHI, we obtained 27 OHMs with a detection rate of 18.6%, including 9 previously known and 18 new ones, within a redshift range of $0.14314\lesssim z_{\rm OH} \lesssim0.27656$. We also measured the hyperfine ratio of nine OHMs between the 1667 and 1665 MHz lines. The ratio ranges from 1.32 to 15.22, with an average of $R_{1667:1665}=4.74$. In a fit to the $L_{\rm OH}$ vs. $L_{\rm FIR}$ relation, we have ${\rm log}L_{\rm OH}= (1.57\pm0.10){\rm log}L_{\rm FIR}-(15.80\pm1.19)$, which is almost the same as derived from previous observations. As expected, since the OHM sample was selected by cross-correlation with the IRAS-selected PSCz, our detected OHMs are [ultra]luminous infrared galaxies ([U]LIRGs). However, not all [U]LIRGs have detectable OH emission, suggesting that the OH emission may be triggered within a specific stage of the merger or can only be seen in specific orientations. In general, FAST, with its 19-beam array and UWB receiver, will be a powerful tool for observing more OHMs and unraveling their mystery in the future.