Accurate water maser positions from HOPS

We identify 433 (69%) with star formation, 121 (19%) with evolved stars and 77 (12%) as unknown. Comparing the properties of maser sites of different origins, we find that those associated with evolved stars tend to have more maser spots and have smaller angular sizes than those associated with star formation. We present evidence that maser sites associated with evolved stars show an increased likelihood of having a velocity range between 15 and 35 km/s compared to other maser sites.

We suggest this is because many of these maser sites are associated with the circumstellar shells of the evolved stars, which are expanding at these velocities. Of the 31 non-detections, we conclude they were not detected due to intrinsic variability and confirm previous results showing that such variable masers tend to be weaker and have simpler spectra with fewer peaks. Of the small number of maser sites showing linear features, we find evidence for lines that are both perpendicular and parallel to known outflows, suggesting that in star formation, H_2_O maser origins may be as varied and as complex as those of class II methanol masers.