A comprehensive model is presented for the powerful H2O masers observed in star-forming regions. The shocks are the result of interaction of dense, high-velocity clumps with dense shells or clumps in the ambient medium. The shocked material is a thin slab in physical space, but breaks up into a network of filaments in velocity space. These filaments are the individual H2O maser features. The results of maser model calculations are presented which provide the maximum brightness temperatures that can be produced in single-temperature environments of any kind.
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Elitzur et al. (1989) studied this question.