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H2 as a Possible Carrier of the DIBs?
Published online by Cambridge University Press: 21 February 2014
Abstract
In the 1990s the hydrogen molecule, by far the most abundant molecular species in the interstellar medium, has been proposed as a possible carrier of the diffuse interstellar bands. While some remarkable coincidences were found in the rich spectrum of inter-Rydberg transitions of this molecule with DIB-features, both in frequency position as in linewidth, some open issues remained on a required non-linear optical pumping scheme that should explain the population of certain intermediate levels and act as a selection mechanism. Recently a similar scheme has been proposed relating the occurrence of the UV-bump (the ubiquitous 2170 Å extinction feature) to the spectrum of H2, therewith reviving the H2 hypothesis.
- Type
- Contributed Papers
- Information
- Proceedings of the International Astronomical Union , Volume 9 , Symposium S297: The Diffuse Interstellar Bands , May 2013 , pp. 375 - 377
- Copyright
- Copyright © International Astronomical Union 2014
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