VLBI OH maser polarimetry with the Australian Long Baseline Array: The star-forming region G340.054-0.244

Abstract

Until recently, high spatial resolution full Stokes maser polarimetry was the sole domain of northern interferometers and a wealth of sources in the far south remained unexplored due to a lack of suitable instrumentation having both high spatial and high velocity resolution. The Australia Telescope Long Baseline Array (LBA) has now switched to disk-based software correlation, permitting full Stokes observing in spectral line mode with velocity channels which are sufficiently narrow to sample usefully the polarization structure. To illustrate the utility of this valuable addition to radio astronomy, we present preliminary results of the first such polarimetric observation, the subject of which are the OH masers in the star-forming region G340.054-0.244. © 2008 International Astronomical Union.