Infrared Emissions from Shock Heated Hydrocarbons

摘要

The primary objective of this study was to ascertain whether low molecular weight hydrocarbons (LMWH) in the range C4 to C7, upon heating to temperatures above 900 K, emit IR radiations at frequencies that correspond to the 'unidentified infrared' (UIR) features - the recorded emissions from a variety of astronomical sources - reflection nebulae, HII regions, planetary nebulae, spiral galaxies and other extra galactic objects. We describe IR emission spectra recorded from shock-heated gases (C2H2; (H3C)2C = CH2; H2C = C(CH3) - C(CH3) = CH2; (H3C)2C = CH - C(CH3) = CH2), that arise from excitation of the fundamental C-H stretching vibrations. While the IR emissions from LMWH, anticipated over the entire spectra range, do not present a perfect match to UIR, the correspondence over several wavelength regions is better than the emissions anticipated from polycyclic aromatic hydrocarbon (PAH) species. Finally, we briefly review the range of proposals that have been presented for the origin of the UIR bands.