Related papers: A framework for resolving the origin, nature and e…
Polycyclic aromatic hydrocarbon (PAH) molecules have been long considered promising candidates for the carriers of the diffuse interstellar bands (DIBs). The PAH-DIB hypothesis, however, raises two major issues. First, the number of…
Hydrocarbons are ubiquitous in the interstellar medium, observed in diverse environments ranging from diffuse to molecular dark clouds and strong photon-dominated regions near HII regions. Recently, two broad diffuse interstellar bands…
The carriers of the diffuse interstellar bands (DIBs) are largely unidentified molecules ubiquitously present in the interstellar medium (ISM). After decades of study, two strong and possibly three weak near-infrared DIBs have recently been…
Context. The identification of the carriers of diffuse interstellar bands (DIBs) remains one of the long-standing mysteries in astronomy. The detection of a polarisation signal in a DIB profile can be used to distinguish between a dust or…
In a quest to further our understanding of the diffuse interstellar medium (ISM) as well as the unidentified carriers of the diffuse interstellar bands (DIBs), we are mapping DIBs across the sky using hundreds of hot stars as background…
Looking for spectroscopic families in the whole set of discovered diffuse interstellar bands (DIBs) is an indirect trial of solving the problem of DIBs' carriers. Basing on optical high resolution spectra, covering the range from 5655 to…
The infrared (IR) spectra of many evolved carbon-rich stars exhibit two prominent dust emission features peaking around 21um and 30um, with the former exclusively seen in proto-planetary nebulae (PPNe), while the latter seen in a much wider…
Large fullerenes and fullerene-based molecules have been proposed as carriers of diffuse interstellar bands (DIBs). The recent detection of the most common fullerenes (C60 and C70) around some planetary nebulae (PNe) now enable us to study…
The diffuse interstellar bands (DIBs) probably arise from complex organic molecules whose strength in local galaxies correlates with neutral hydrogen column density, N(HI), and dust reddening, E(B-V). Since CaII absorbers in quasar (QSO)…
The tendency of some diffuse interstellar band (DIB) carriers to concentrate in the outer, UV-illuminated layers of molecular clouds (MCs)--the ``skin effect''--makes their spatial distribution a powerful probe of their physical nature. We…
Diffuse interstellar bands (DIBs) still await an explanation. One expects that some progress in this field will be possible when all the known DIBs are divided into families in such a way that only one carrier is responsible for all bands…
Published interpretations of the relative intensity variations of the Unidentified Infrared Bands (UIBs) and their underlying continuum are discussed. An alternative model is proposed, in which a single carrier for both emits a) mostly a…
More than 500 diffuse interstellar bands (DIBs) have been observed in astronomical spectra, and their signatures and correlations in different environments have been studied over the past decades to reveal clues about the nature of the…
Large organic molecules and carbon clusters are basic building blocks of life, but their existence in the universe has not been confirmed beyond doubt. A number of unidentified absorption features (arising in the diffuse inter-stellar…
A family of unidentified infrared emission (UIE) bands has been observed throughout the Universe. The current observed spectral properties of the UIE bands are summarized. These properties are discussed in the frameworks of different models…
Although diffuse interstellar bands (DIBs) were discovered over 100 years ago, for most of them, their origins are still unknown. Investigation on the correlations between different DIBs is an important way to study the behavior and…
The sources behind numerous key diffuse interstellar bands (DIBs) remain elusive, and thus evidence is presented here that a family of seven anionic hydrogen atomic clusters (H(-)2n+1, n = 1 to 7) are pertinent contributors. Configuration…
We present observations which probe the small-scale structure of the interstellar medium using diffuse interstellar bands (DIBs). Towards HD 168075/6 in the Eagle Nebula, significant differences in DIB absorption are found between the two…
We searched for diffuse interstellar bands (DIBs) in the 0.91$<\lambda<$1.33 $\mu$m region by analyzing the near-infrared (NIR) high-resolution ($R=20,000$ and 28,000) spectra of 31 reddened early-type stars ($0.04<E(B-V)<4.58$) and an…
New views on the diffuse interstellar bands are discussed. In particular results from DIB surveys and the study of near-infrared DIBs.