Status update (Nov 2025): WED is in a paused state, but a large collection of unpublished data is ready for future inclusion. Collaborators interested in analysis or database development are warmly encouraged to get in touch.

Welcome!

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The Water Emission Database (WED) brings together observational data of water emission from Galactic and extragalactic environments (Dutkowska & Kristensen 2022, A&A, 667, A135). This project aims to provide a unified view of water across the observable Universe — linking star formation, feedback, and astrochemistry through a common molecular tracer.

About this project

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Over the years, numerous surveys have observed water emission across a wide range of sources, from local star-forming regions to distant galaxies. The goal of WED is to collect these observations into a single, consistent framework, making it easier to compare, visualize, and interpret water’s role in different environments.

At present, the public release represents the first version of the database. Additional datasets, including unpublished or reprocessed files already compiled, remain unreleased but available for future integration. If you’re interested in contributing, analyzing, or helping expand this material, I would love to hear from you.

Why water?

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Water is a key tracer of energetic processes in the interstellar medium. In the Milky Way, it traces active star formation, as it is almost always associated with molecular outflows from protostars (see WISH; van Dishoeck et al. 2021). At high redshift, water is among the few molecules that can be detected directly, linking small-scale star-forming processes to galaxy-scale evolution.

By bringing these observations together, WED enables statistically meaningful comparisons across cosmic environments and remains open to future extensions as new facilities deliver richer datasets.

Current status & future directions

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WED is currently paused, but a substantial amount of additional material already exists and awaits processing and inclusion. The next stage would involve:

• Integrating new and legacy water-emission observations,
• Expanding the metadata and analysis tools, and
• Preparing a broader public release.

If you’re interested in joining this effort — through data sharing, analysis, or coding — please get in touch.

Contact

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This project is maintained by Dr. Katarzyna M. Dutkowska (she/her).

✉️ dutkowska at strw.leidenuniv.nl

Last updated: November 2025.