A Catalog of Diffuse Interstellar Bands in Fullerene-Containing Planetary Nebulae

Large fullerenes and fullerene-based molecules have been proposed as carriers of diffuse interstellar bands (DIBs). The recent detection of the most common fullerenes (C₆₀ and C₇₀) around some Planetary Nebulae (PNe) now enable us to study the DIBs in fullerene-rich space environments. We have studied the presence of DIBs in the optical spectra (~3300-9400 Å) of two fullerene-containing PNe (Tc 1 and M 1-20). Special attention is given to DIBs which are found to be unusually intense in fullerene-containing PNe; several of these DIBS have not previously been reported. Fullerenes larger than C₆₀ (and C₇₀) and multishell fullerenes may be possible candidate carriers for the unusual DIBs seen in fullerene-rich environments.