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Astrometry of the OH masers of 4 Mira stars

Wouter Vlemmings, Huib Jan van Langevelde, Phil Diamond

astro-pharXiv:astro-ph/0309459

Abstract

The OH main line masers in circumstellar shells were observed with astrometric VLBI in order to accurately determine the position of the star, as well as its motion, including the parallax. Results are presented on 4 Mira stars monitored for 2 - 8 years with the VLBA. The data show that in some stars the VLBI detection is dominated by blue-shifted emission that is associated with the stellar image amplified by the maser shell in front of the star. In other cases the maser is not directly tied to the stellar position, but still persistent enough to measure proper motion and parallax.

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