New Observations of Terahertz Water Masers with SOFIA

Artist’s impression of a pulsating variable star with an outflowing circumstellar envelope (orange) and embedded pockets of water masers (blue). The masing phenomenon occurs when a molecular transition exhibits a population inversion, and the rate of stimulated emission exceeds the rate of absorption resulting in a net negative absorption coefficient. Thus instead of being exponentially attenuated as it passes through an astrophysical medium, radiation is exponentially amplified.

Additional Information