Parallaxes for W49N and G048.60+0.02: Distant Star Forming Regions in the Perseus Spiral Arm

Abstract: We report trigonometric parallax measurements of 22 GHz H$2$O masers in two massive star-forming regions from VLBA observations as part of the BeSSeL Survey. The distances of $11.11^{+0.79}{-0.69}$ kpc to W49N (G043.16+0.01) and $10.75^{+0.61}_{-0.55}$ kpc to G048.60+0.02 locate them in a distant section of the Perseus arm near the solar circle in the first Galactic quadrant. This allows us to locate accurately the inner portion of the Perseus arm for the first time. Combining the present results with sources measured in the outer portion of the arm in the second and third quadrants yields a global pitch angle of 9.5 deg +/- 1.3 deg for the Perseus arm. We have found almost no H$_2$O maser sources in the Perseus arm for 50 deg $< \ell <$ 80 deg, suggesting that this $\approx 6$ kpc section of the arm has little massive star formation activity.