Systems with H2O Maser and 1.3 Centimeter Continuum Emission in Cepheus A

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Abstract
We report continuum (1.3 cm) and H2O maser line observations, made with the Very Large Array (A configuration), toward the cluster of radio continuum sources in the star-forming region Cepheus A East. The 1.3 cm continuum emission is detected toward HW2, HW3b, HW3c, HW3d, and HW9. In addition, a new continuum source (Cep A:VLA 1), undetected previously, is observed at this wavelength. We detected three spatial clusters of H2O masers that are associated with the 1.3 cm continuum sources HW2, HW3b, and HW3dii (the brightest component of HW3d), indicating that these objects may harbor an energy source as suggested by Garay and coworkers. The spatial distribution of the H2O masers with respect to the continuum emission is different in each one of these objects. Toward source HW2 the H2O masers are spread over ~1'' and aligned in a direction almost perpendicular to the associated radio jet. In HW3b the H2O masers are spread over a more compact region (~05) and aligned along the major axis of the elongated radio continuum emission. The masers associated with the compact object HW3dii are distributed over a compact region (~05) but do not show any clear spatial trend. By comparing the H2O (this paper) and OH maser distributions in the region, we propose that object HW2, with the strongest H2O-OH maser activity, could represent the "oldest" young stellar object of the region, while HW3b, with no reported OH maser activity, could be the "youngest" source of these three objects.

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