Remarkable candidates for the carrier of the diffuse interstellar bands - C60(+) and other polyhedral carbon ions
Abstract
The possibility that polyhedral carbon (PC) ions recently found in the laboratory may be carriers of diffuse interstellar bands (DIBs) in the visual is examined. The main arguments in favor of polycyclic hydrocarbons (PAHs) as carriers of DIBs are reviewed, and the problems with PAHs as DIB carriers are discussed. The advantages of PC ions include the fact that they are stable and that they emit in the IR by the same process as PAHs do. They have electronic transitions in the visual range and their ions are large enough for the rotational structure of their transitions to be compatible with the width of the narrowest DIBs. It is concluded that PC ions are excellent candidates for the carriers of the DIBs. The astronomical implications of this conclusion are discussed.
- Publication:
-
Astronomy and Astrophysics
- Pub Date:
- September 1988
- Bibcode:
- 1988A&A...203..145L
- Keywords:
-
- Astronomical Spectroscopy;
- Cosmic Dust;
- Cyclic Hydrocarbons;
- Interstellar Matter;
- Molecular Ions;
- Absorption Spectra;
- Abundance;
- Ions;
- Near Infrared Radiation;
- Spectral Bands;
- Astrophysics