Rocket Spectrographic Observations of α Virginis

Two spectrograms of a Vir (Bi V) in the wavelength interval 928 < X < 1350 A and with 0.8 A resolution were successfully recorded on a rocket flight June 1, 1967. The data revealed hydrogen Lyman absorption lines through Ly-~ and, in addition, evidence for 128 absorption lines arising from the ground and low-lying states in ions of C, N, Si, S, Cl, Ti, V, Cr, and Fe. The results imply that strong line blanketing occurs at X < 1350 A. No interstellar absorption lines due to 112 were observed; an upper limit for the mean number density of this molecule between the Earth and a Vir is 3.1 X 1O~ cm3