Astronomy and Astrophysics – Astronomy
Scientific paper
May 1997
adsabs.harvard.edu/cgi-bin/nph-data_query?bibcode=1997adspr..19.1033e&link_type=abstract
Advances in Space Research, Volume 19, Issue 7, p. 1033-1042.
Astronomy and Astrophysics
Astronomy
7
Scientific paper
The discovery and synthesis of fullerenes led to the hypothesis that they may be present and stable in interstellar space. Fullerenes have been reported in an impact crater on the LDEF spacecraft. Investigations of fullerenes in carbonaceous meteorites have yielded only small upper limits. Fullerene compounds and their ions could be interesting carrier molecules for some of the ``diffuse interstellar bands'' (DIBs), a long standing mystery in astronomy. We have detected two new diffuse bands that are consistent with laboratory measurements of the C_60^+, as first evidence for the largest molecule ever detected in space. Criteria for this identification are discussed. The inferred abundance (up to 0.9 % of cosmic carbon locked in C_60^+) suggests that fullerenes may play an important role in interstellar chemistry. We present new observations on DIB substructures consistent with fullerene compounds, and the search for neutral C_60 in the diffuse medium.
Ehrenfreund Pascale
Foing Bernard H.
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