86 GHz SiO maser survey of late-type stars in the Inner Galaxy

We present 86 GHz () SiO maser line observations with the IRAM 30-m telescope of a sample of 441 late-type stars in the Inner Galaxy (). These stars were selected on the basis of their infrared magnitudes and colours from the ISOGAL and MSX catalogues. SiO maser emission was detected in 271 sources, and their line-of-sight velocities indicate that the stars are located in the Inner Galaxy. These new detections double the number of line-of-sight velocities available from previous SiO and OH maser observations in the area covered by our survey and are, together with other samples of e.g. OH/IR stars, useful for kinematic studies of the central parts of the Galaxy.