A search for water masers toward extrasolar planets

• Published in: Astronomy and astrophysics (Berlin) Vol. 449; no. 2; pp. 805 - 808
• Main Authors: Minier, V., Lineweaver, C.
• Format: Journal Article
• Language: English
• Published: Les Ulis EDP Sciences 01.04.2006
• Subjects: Astronomy; Earth, ocean, space; Exact sciences and technology; planetary systems; Low-mass stars; Extrasolar planets; Masers; Stellar formation region; Circumstellar matter; Radial velocity; Planetary system
• ISSN: 0004-6361; 1432-0746
• DOI: 10.1051/0004-6361:20052957

Context.Water is the most common triatomic molecule in the universe and the basis of life on Earth. Astrophysical masers have been widely studied in recent years and have been shown to be invaluable probes of the details of the environment in which they are found. Water masers, for instance, are often detected toward low-mass star-forming regions. Doppler radial-velocity surveys have detected about 160 exoplanets.Aims.Observations of water masers from exoplanetary systems would give us a new detailed window through which to explore them.Methods.We present a search for water masers toward eighteen extrasolar planets using the newly upgraded Australia Telescope Compact Array at 12 mm. A sensitivity of $\sim25$ mJy beam-1 and an angular resolution of ~$10''$ were achieved at 22.235 GHz. Results.No maser lines are clearly observed.