SiO Maser Line-width Diagnostics of AGB Stars and Red Supergiants: The RSG-adjacent Region in the FWZI--Luminosity Plane
Abstract
We investigate whether SiO maser line profiles can distinguish asymptotic giant branch (AGB) stars from red supergiants (RSGs) and identify unusual AGB-classified sources near the RSG regime. We compiled 2,956 detected SiO maser spectra for 1,551 objects and constructed reference samples of 1,068 O-rich AGB stars and 36 RSGs. The full width at zero intensity (FWZI) was reliably measured for 1,020 AGB stars and 32 RSGs. AGB stars are concentrated at narrow line widths: 81.5% have FWZI <10 km s^-1, whereas 81.2% of RSGs have FWZI >15 km s^-1 and none has FWZI <10 km s^-1. Infrared two-color diagrams provide only partial separation. Combining FWZI with luminosities based primarily on quality-filtered Gaia/Bailer-Jones distances, with independent literature distances for several RSGs, reveals a weak tendency for wider SiO maser lines at higher luminosities but no clean boundary. We therefore define an empirical RSG-adjacent region in the FWZI-luminosity plane, 15 <= FWZI <= 26.6 km s^-1 and 3.9 <= log(L/L_sun) <= 4.9, to characterize the high-luminosity, broad-line tail of the AGB-classified sample. Ten sources fall within this region. Using infrared SEDs, DUSTY fits, OH/H2O maser information, and variability, we find that six are most naturally interpreted as luminous AGB-like objects, two warrant follow-up to assess possible high-initial-mass AGB, RSG-like, or SAGB-related interpretations, and two are less securely constrained because of poor DUSTY fits. The RSG-adjacent region is therefore a physically mixed screening space, not a definitive classification box, for selecting high-priority follow-up targets.
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BibTeX
@misc{tao2026maser,
title = {{SiO Maser Line-width Diagnostics of AGB Stars and Red Supergiants: The RSG-adjacent Region in the FWZI--Luminosity Plane}},
author = {Qiu-Yu Tao and Jun-ichi Nakashima and Yong Zhang and Zehao Zhang and Jia-Yong Xie and Chang Liu},
howpublished = {arXiv},
year = {2026},
month = oct,
doi = {10.48550/arxiv.2610.16453},
eprint = {2610.16453},
archivePrefix = {arXiv},
url = {https://arxiv.org/abs/2610.16453},
}
RIS
TY - UNPB
TI - SiO Maser Line-width Diagnostics of AGB Stars and Red Supergiants: The RSG-adjacent Region in the FWZI--Luminosity Plane
AU - Qiu-Yu Tao
AU - Jun-ichi Nakashima
AU - Yong Zhang
AU - Zehao Zhang
AU - Jia-Yong Xie
AU - Chang Liu
PY - 2026
DA - 2026/10/12
PB - arXiv
DO - 10.48550/arxiv.2610.16453
UR - https://arxiv.org/abs/2610.16453
AB - We investigate whether SiO maser line profiles can distinguish asymptotic giant branch (AGB) stars from red supergiants (RSGs) and identify unusual AGB-classified sources near the RSG regime. We compiled 2,956 detected SiO maser spectra for 1,551 objects and constructed reference samples of 1,068 O-rich AGB stars and 36 RSGs. The full width at zero intensity (FWZI) was reliably measured for 1,020 AGB stars and 32 RSGs. AGB stars are concentrated at narrow line widths: 81.5% have FWZI <10 km s^-1, whereas 81.2% of RSGs have FWZI >15 km s^-1 and none has FWZI <10 km s^-1. Infrared two-color diagrams provide only partial separation. Combining FWZI with luminosities based primarily on quality-filtered Gaia/Bailer-Jones distances, with independent literature distances for several RSGs, reveals a weak tendency for wider SiO maser lines at higher luminosities but no clean boundary. We therefore define an empirical RSG-adjacent region in the FWZI-luminosity plane, 15 <= FWZI <= 26.6 km s^-1 and 3.9 <= log(L/L_sun) <= 4.9, to characterize the high-luminosity, broad-line tail of the AGB-classified sample. Ten sources fall within this region. Using infrared SEDs, DUSTY fits, OH/H2O maser information, and variability, we find that six are most naturally interpreted as luminous AGB-like objects, two warrant follow-up to assess possible high-initial-mass AGB, RSG-like, or SAGB-related interpretations, and two are less securely constrained because of poor DUSTY fits. The RSG-adjacent region is therefore a physically mixed screening space, not a definitive classification box, for selecting high-priority follow-up targets.
ER -