Related papers: Interstellar C60+
In the early 90s, C60+ was proposed as the carrier of two diffuse interstellar bands (DIBs) at 957.7 and 963.2 nm, but a firm identification still awaits gas-phase spectroscopic data. Neutral C60, on the other hand, was recently detected…
Emission of fullerenes in their infrared vibrational bands has been detected in space near hot stars. The proposed attribution of the diffuse interstellar bands at 9577 and 9632 \AA\ to electronic transitions of the buckminsterfullerene…
Due to recent advances in laboratory spectroscopy, the first optical detection of a very large molecule has been claimed in the diffuse interstellar medium (ISM): C60+ (ionized Buckminsterfullerene). Confirming the presence of this molecule…
Although fullerenes have long been hypothesized to occur in interstellar environments, their actual unambiguous spectroscopic identification is of more recent date. C60, C70 and C60+ now constitute the largest molecular species individually…
We report the first detection of buckminsterfullerene (C60) in a proto-planetary nebula (PPN). The vibrational transitions of C60 at 7.0, 17.4, and 18.9um are detected in the Spitzer/IRS spectrum of IRAS 01005+7910. This detection suggests…
Recent advances in laboratory spectroscopy lead to the claim of ionized Buckminsterfullerene (C60+) as the carrier of two diffuse interstellar bands (DIBs) in the near-infrared. However, irrefutable identification of interstellar C60+…
The recent detection of fullerene (C$_{60}$) in space and the positive assignment of five diffuse interstellar bands to C$_{60}^+$ reinforce the notion that fullerene-related compounds can be efficiently formed in circumstellar envelopes…
We recently identified several emission bands in the Spitzer-IRS spectrum of the unusual planetary nebula Tc 1 with the infrared active vibrational modes of the neutral fullerene species C60 and C70. Since then, the fullerene bands have…
The fullerene C$_{60}$ has four infrared-active vibrational transitions at 7.0, 8.5, 17.4 and 18.9 $\mu$m. We have previously observed emission features at 17.4 and 18.9 $\mu$m in the reflection nebula NGC 7023 and demonstrated spatial…
Infrared emission bands with wavelengths between 3-20 {\mu}m are observed in a variety of astrophysical environments [1,2]. They were discovered in the 1970s and are generally attributed to organic compounds [3,4]. However, over 40 years of…
Recent studies have confirmed the presence of buckminsterfullerene (C$_{60}$) in different interstellar and circumstellar environments. However, several aspects regarding C$_{60}$ in space are not well understood yet, such as the formation…
Detections of C60 and C70 fullerenes in planetary nebulae (PNe) of the Magellanic Clouds and of our own Galaxy have raised the idea that other forms of carbon such as hydrogenated fullerenes (fulleranes like C60H36 and C60H18), buckyonions,…
We searched the Spitzer Space Telescope data archive for Galactic planetary nebulae (PNe), that show the characteristic 17.4 and um features due to C60, also known as buckminsterfullerene. Out of 338 objects with Spitzer/IRS data, we found…
We present here the 7.0-8.7 micron spectrum of the bright reflection nebula NGC 7023. Our observations are made with the Short Wavelength Spectrometer (SWS) on the European satellite Infrared Space Observatory (ISO). The vibrational bands…
We present high-resolution (R~15000) VLT/UVES optical spectra of two planetary nebulae (PNe; Tc 1 and M 1-20) where C60 (and C70) fullerenes have already been found. These spectra are of high-quality (S/N > 300) for PN Tc 1, which permits…
The laboratory gas phase spectrum recently published by Campbell et al. has reinvigorated attempts to confirm the presence of the C$_{60}^+$ cation in the interstellar medium, thorough an analysis of the spectra of hot, reddened stars. This…
We present seeing-limited narrow-band mid-IR GTC/CanariCam images of the spatially extended fullerene-containing planetary nebula (PN) IC 418. The narrow-band images cover the C60 fullerene band at 17.4 {\mu}m, the polycyclic aromatic…
Context. Insight into the conditions that drive the physics and chemistry in interstellar clouds is gained from determining the abundance and charge state of their components. Aims. We propose an evaluation of the C60:C60+ ratio in diffuse…
Gas phase spectroscopic laboratory experiments for the buckminsterfullerene cation C60+ resulted in accurate rest wavelengths for five C60+ transitions that have been compared with diffuse interstellar bands (DIBs) in the near infra-red.…
The C60 molecule has been recently detected in a wide range of astrophysical environments through its four active intramolecular vibrational modes (T1u) near 18.9, 17.4, 8.5, and 7.0 microns. The strengths of the mid-infrared emission bands…