SIMBAD references

We report the detection of numerous far-infrared emission lines of water vapor toward the supergiant star VY Canis Majoris. A 29.5-45 µm grating scan of VY CMa, obtained using the Short-Wavelength Spectrometer (SWS) of the Infrared Space Observatory at a spectral resolving power λ/Δλ of ∼2000, reveals at least 41 spectral features due to water vapor that together radiate a total luminosity of ∼25 L_☉. In addition to pure rotational transitions within the ground vibrational state, these features include rotational transitions within the (010) excited vibrational state. The spectrum also shows the ²Π_1/2(J=5/2)⟵²Π_3/2(J=3/2) OH feature near 34.6 µm in absorption. Additional SWS observations of VY CMa were carried out in the instrument's Fabry-Perot mode for three water transitions: the 7₂₅-6₁₆ line at 29.8367 µm, the 4₄₁-3₁₂ line at 31.7721 µm, and the 4₃₂-3₀₃ line at 40.6909 µm. The higher spectral resolving power λ/Δλ of approximately 30,000 thereby obtained permits the line profiles to be resolved spectrally for the first time and reveals the ``P Cygni'' profiles that are characteristic of emission from an outflowing envelope.