An Etymological Dictionary of Astronomy and Astrophysics
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Alcohol, also known as methyl alcohol, formula CH₃OH, formed in small quantities in the oxidation of methane. → methanol maser.

From → methane + -ol a suffix used in the names of chemical derivatives.

A maser source in which excited methanol molecules (CH₃OH) produce → maser emission. Methanol masers are signposts of the early stages of star formation, many being associated with sources that have not developed an → H II region. There are more than 20 different methanol transitions that have been observed. They are divided into two categories: Class I, excited by collisions, and class II, excited by infrared radiation. The most important class I masers are at a frequency of 44.1 GHz, while he most important class II masers are at a frequency of 6.7 GHz.

→ methanol; → maser.