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Science 28 June 2002:
Vol. 296. no. 5577, pp. 2350 - 2354
DOI: 10.1126/science.1068168
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Review

Supernova Remnant OH Masers: Signposts of Cosmic Collision

Mark Wardle,1* Farhad Yusef-Zadeh2

A supernova explosion, the final death throe of a massive star, creates an expanding bubble of hot gas that overruns up the surrounding medium. When a supernova remnant encounters a dense interstellar cloud, the compression may trigger gravitational collapse and the formation of a new generation of stars. This event can be detected through intense stimulated emission in the 1720-megahertz transition of the hydroxyl radical, OH, which yields unique insights into the physical processes and conditions occurring during the interaction.

1 Research Centre for Theoretical Astrophysics, School of Physics A28, University of Sydney, NSW 2006, Australia.
2 Department of Physics and Astronomy, Northwestern University, Evanston, IL 60208, USA.
*   To whom correspondence should be addressed. E-mail: wardle{at}physics.usyd.edu.au

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Science. ISSN 0036-8075 (print), 1095-9203 (online)