Published online by Cambridge University Press: 21 February 2014
We present the first results of a dedicated search for Diffuse Interstellar Bands that have profiles with FWHM > 6 Å. Broad DIBs have been noticed in past surveys using averages of multiple sight lines (e.g. Jenniskens & Désert, 1994), but careful detection, measurement, and cataloguing for individual sight lines has not been done since the pioneering work of Herbig (1995). We have initiated an observing campaign using the Apache Point Observatory in order to obtain low-resolution spectra to search for such broad DIBs and monitor their behaviour from star to star. A first sample of 21 stars with 0.3 < E(B-V) < 3.3 mag, along with 15 matched low-reddening stars, were observed with the APO/DIS B400 (R ~ 450) and R300 (R ~ 1000) gratings to obtain spectra having S/N > 500.