Diffuse Interstellar Bands

Diffuse Interstellar Bands

Diffuse Interstellar Bands (DIBs) are the puzzling spectral features, originated in interstellar clouds, composed mostly of neutral hydrogen. The same clouds are the birthplaces of extinction and polarization. Both these phenomena are believed to be caused by interstellar dust grains, oriented in the second case. Despite of these one can observe atomic absorption lines as well as some bands, originating in simple radicals composed of the most abundant elements. DIBs are now commonly believed to be carried by some complex molecules, remaining unidentified since nearly 100 years. The paper summarizes the most important observational facts concerning DIBs and comments their relations to other interstellar features.

Proceedings of the Polish Astronomical Society, vol. 10, 127-135 (2020)

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