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Shota Hamada

Publications and source records attributed to Shota Hamada.

3 recordsLinked to original sources

The trigonometric parallax of IRAS 23385+6053 and physical properties of molecular clouds based on the VLBI astrometry

We performed very long baseline interferometry (VLBI) observations to measure the trigonometric parallax of H$_2$O maser sources in the outer massive star-forming region IRAS 23385+6053 using the VLBI Exploration of Radio Astrometry (VERA) in Japan. The annual parallax is $\pi=0.460 \pm 0.086$~mas, which corresponds to a distance of $2.17^{+0.50}_{-0.34}$ kpc, roughly half the kinematic distance of 4.9 kpc reported in previous studies. The proper motion of IRAS 23385+6053 is obtained to be ($\mu_{\alpha}\cos{\delta}$,$\mu_{\delta}$)=($-3.73\pm0.53$, $-2.0{7}\pm0.73$) mas yr$^{-1}$. Based on VLBI astrometry result, we derived the physical properties of molecular clouds in which H$_2$O masers have been detected, including IRAS 23385+6053 in the Cepheus and Cassiopeia region. We discuss the line-of-sight structures of the giant molecular clouds using the trigonometric distances obtained from the H$_{2}$O maser sources. Our results suggest that molecular clouds in the Perseus arm extend over approximately $2$ kpc at the Cepheus and Cassiopeia region.

astro-ph.GA

Astrometric VLBI observations of H$_2$O masers in an extreme OH/IR star candidate NSV17351

Results of astrometric very long baseline interferometry (VLBI) observations towards an extreme OH/IR star candidate NSV17351 are presented. We used the VERA (VLBI Exploration of Radio Astrometry) VLBI array to observe 22\,GHz H$_2$O masers of NSV17351. We derived an annual parallax of 0.247$\pm$0.035 mas which corresponds to a distance of 4.05$\pm$0.59 kpc. By averaging the proper motions of 15 maser spots, we obtained the systemic proper motion of NSV17351 to be ($\mu_{\alpha}\cos{\delta}, \mu_{\delta}$)$^{\mathrm{avg}}$ $=$ ($-$1.19 $\pm$ 0.11, 1.30 $\pm$ 0.19) mas\,yr$^{-1}$. The maser spots spread out over a region of 20 mas $\times$ 30 mas, which can be converted to a spatial distribution of $\sim$80 au $\times$ $\sim$120 au at the source distance. Internal motions of the maser spots suggest an outward moving maser region with respect to the estimated position of the central star. From single dish monitoring of the H$_2$O maser emission, we estimate the pulsation period of NSV17351 to be 1122$\pm$24 days. This is the first report of the periodic activity of NSV17351, indicating that NSV17351 could have a mass of $\sim$4\,M$_{\odot}$. We confirmed that the time variation of H$_2$O masers can be used as a period estimator of variable OH/IR stars. Furthermore, by inspecting dozens of double-peaked H$_2$O maser spectra from the last 40 years, we detected a long-term acceleration in the radial velocity of the circumstellar matter to be $0.17\pm0.03$ km\,s$^{-1}$\,yr$^{-1}$ Finally, we determined the position and kinematics of NSV17351 in the Milky Way Galaxy and found that NSV17351 is located in an interarm region between the Outer and Perseus arms. We note that astrometric VLBI observations towards extreme OH/IR stars are useful samples for studies of the Galactic dynamics.

astro-ph.GA

The First VERA Astrometry Catalog

We present the first astrometry catalog from the Japanese VLBI (very long baseline interferometer) project VERA (VLBI Exploration of Radio Astrometry). We have compiled all the astrometry results from VERA, providing accurate trigonometric annual parallax and proper motion measurements. In total, 99 maser sources are listed in the VERA catalog. Among them, 21 maser sources are newly reported while the rest of 78 sources are referred to previously published results or those in preparation for forthcoming papers. The accuracy in the VERA astrometry are revisited and compared with those from the other VLBI astrometry projects such as BeSSeL (The Bar and Spiral Structure Legacy) Survey and GOBELINS (the Gould's Belt Distances Survey) with the VLBA (Very Long Baseline Array). We have confirmed that most of the astrometry results are consistent with each other, and the largest error sources are due to source structure of the maser features and their rapid variation, along with the systematic calibration errors and different analysis methods. Combined with the BeSSeL results, we estimate the up-to-date fundamental Galactic parameter of $R_{0}=7.92\pm0.16_{\rm{stat.}}\pm0.3_{\rm{sys.}}$~kpc and $Ω_{\odot}=30.17\pm0.27_{\rm{stat.}}\pm0.3_{\rm{sys.}}$~km~s$^{-1}$~kpc$^{-1}$, where $R_{0}$ and $Ω_{\odot}$ are the distance from the Sun to the Galactic center and the Sun's angular velocity of the Galactic circular rotation, respectively.

astro-ph.GA