15min:
LABORATORY ABSORPTION SPECTRA OF CARBON MOLECULES FOR COMPARISON WITH DIB DATA.

JOHN P. MAIER, Department of Chemistry, University of Basel, Klingelbergstrasse 80, CH-4056 Basel, Switzerland.

The gas-phase electronic absorption spectra of several new carbon molecular systems could be observed in the laboratory allowing a direct comparison with astronomical DIB data. These include the non-linear carbon chains, CnH4+ n=4,6,8, C5H5 isomers which absorb near the 4429 DIB, and large cyclic systems such as C18, all with absorbtions in the visible.