Abstract
THE first detection of the 18-cm lines of the OH radical was recently reported by Weinreb, Barrett, Meeks and Henry1. The lines were observed in absorption in the spectrum of Cassiopeia A at frequencies agreeing closely with laboratory values. Optical depths of 0.016 and 0.010 were measured corresponding to values of ∼ 3 for hydrogen lines with the same radial velocities. As the optical depth of the zero-velocity hydrogen line in the galactic centre source (Sagittarius A) is also of the order of 3 and its line width is greater than those in Cassiopeia A, it appeared that we might be able to confirm the results given in ref. 1 with easily improvised equipment.
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Weinreb, S., Barrett, A. H., Meeks, M. L., and Henry, J. C., Nature, 200, 829 (1963).
Clark, B. G., Radhakrishnan, V., and Wilson, R. W., Astrophys. J., 135, 151 (1962).
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BOLTON, J., VAN DAMME, K., GARDNER, F. et al. Observation of OH Absorption Lines in the Radio Spectrum of the Galactic Centre. Nature 201, 279 (1964). https://doi.org/10.1038/201279a0
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DOI: https://doi.org/10.1038/201279a0
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