The optical spectroscopy of extraterrestrial molecules

Abstract

The ongoing quest to identify molecules in the interstellar medium by their electronic spectra in the visible region is reviewed. Identification of molecular absorption is described in the context of the elucidation of the carriers of the unidentified diffuse interstellar bands while molecular emission is discussed with reference to the unidentified Red Rectangle bands. The experimental techniques employed in undertaking studies on the optical spectroscopy of extraterrestrial molecules are described and critiqued in the context of their application.

21 pages, 9 figures, Invited review Australian Journal of Chemistry, accepted for publication

Cited by in corpus (4)

• The optical spectrum of a large isolated polycyclic aromatic hydrocarbon: hexa-peri-hexabenzocoronene, C42H18
• Sequence structure emission in The Red Rectangle Bands
• Current assessment of the Red Rectangle band problem
• On a common carrier hypothesis for the 6613.6 and 6196.0 Å diffuse interstellar bands