A laboratory analog for the carrier of the 3 micron emission of the protoplanetary nebula IRAS 05341+0852.
A mixture of the polycyclic aromatic hydrocarbons (PAHs), acenaphthylene and acenaphthene, when subjected to the energetic environment of a hydrogen plasma, is transformed into a material that exhibits an infrared absorption profile in the 3 micron region that is an excellent match of the protoplanetary nebula IRAS 05341+0852 emission profile in the same wavelength region. Acenaphthylene and acenaphthene were chosen as precursors in the experiment because these molecules have a structure that can be described as a keystone in a process in which carbon atoms in a stellar wind condense into PAH species. The spectral match between experiment and observations appears to validate that scenario.
Beegle
L W
LW
Department of Physics, University of Alabama at Birmingham 35294-1170, USA.
Wdowiak
T J
TJ
Arnoult
K M
KM
D000073:Acenaphthenes / Q000737:chemistry*; D001256:Astronomy / Q000379:methods*; D018559:Exobiology; D005118:Extraterrestrial Environment; D011084:Polycyclic Aromatic Hydrocarbons / Q000737:chemistry*; D017550:Spectroscopy, Fourier Transform Infrared
D000073:Acenaphthenes; D011084:Polycyclic Aromatic Hydrocarbons; C042553:acenaphthylene; C042552:acenaphthene