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Confirmation of C60 in the Reflection Nebula NGC7023
Published online by Cambridge University Press: 30 March 2011
Abstract
The fullerene C60 has four infrared active vibrational transitions at 7.0, 8.5,17.5 and 18.9 μm. We have previously observed emission features at17.4 and 18.9 μm in the reflection nebula NGC 7023 and demonstratedspatial correlations suggestive of a common origin. We now confirm the identification ofthese features with C60 by detecting a third emission feature at7.04 ± 0.05μm at a position of strong 18.9 μm emissionin NGC 7023. We also report the detection of these three features in the reflection nebulaNGC 2023. We show with spectroscopic mapping of NGC 7023 that the 18.9 μmfeature peaks on the central star,that the 16.4 μm emission feature dueto PAHs peaks between the star and a nearby photodissociation front,and that the 17.4μm feature is a blend of a PAH feature and C60. The derivedC60 abundance is consistent with that from previous upper limits and possiblefullerene detections in the interstellar medium.
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- © EAS, EDP Sciences 2011
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