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The NASA Ames PAH IR Spectroscopic Database and thefar-IR

Published online by Cambridge University Press:  30 March 2011

C. Boersma
Affiliation:
NASA Ames Research Center, MS 245-6, Moffett Field, CA 94035, USA. e-mail: [email protected]
L.J. Allamandola
Affiliation:
NASA Ames Research Center, MS 245-6, Moffett Field, CA 94035, USA. e-mail: [email protected]
C.W. Bauschlicher Jr.
Affiliation:
NASA Ames Research Center, MS 230-3, Moffett Field, CA 94035, USA
A. Ricca
Affiliation:
NASA Ames Research Center, MS 230-3, Moffett Field, CA 94035, USA
J. Cami
Affiliation:
Department of Physics and Astronomy, PAB 213, The University of Western Ontario, London, ON N6A 3K7, Canada
E. Peeters
Affiliation:
Department of Physics and Astronomy, PAB 213, The University of Western Ontario, London, ON N6A 3K7, Canada
F. Sánchez de Armas
Affiliation:
SETI Institute, 515 N. Whisman Road, Mountain View, CA 94043, USA
G. Puerta Saborido
Affiliation:
SETI Institute, 515 N. Whisman Road, Mountain View, CA 94043, USA
A.L. Mattioda
Affiliation:
NASA Ames Research Center, MS 245-6, Moffett Field, CA 94035, USA. e-mail: [email protected]
D.M. Hudgins
Affiliation:
NASA Headquarters, MS 3Y28, 300 E St. SW, Washington, DC 20546, USA

Abstract

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Polycyclic Aromatic Hydrocarbons (PAHs) are widespread across the Universe and influencemany stages of the Galactic lifecycle. The presence of PAHs has been well established andthe rich mid-IR PAH spectrum is now commonly used as a probe into (inter)stellarenvironments. The NASA Ames PAH IR Spectroscopic Database has been key to test and refinethe “PAH hypothesis”. This database is a large coherent set (>600 spectra) oflaboratory measured and DFT computed infrared spectra of PAHs fromC10H8 to C130H28 and has been made availableon the web at (http://www.astrochem.org/pahdb). With a new spectral window opening up; thefar-IR, the study of PAH far-IR spectra and the quest for identifying aunique member of the interstellar PAH family has begun. To guide this research, the far-IR(>20 μm) spectra of different sets of PAHs are investigatedusing the NASA Ames PAH IR Spectroscopic Database. These sets explore the influence ofsize, shape, charge and composition on the far-IR PAH spectrum. The far-IR is also thedomain of the so-called “drumhead” modes and other molecular vibrations involving loworder bending vibrations of the carbon skeleton as a whole. As with drums, these aremolecule and shape specific and promise to be a key diagnostic for specific PAHs. Here,the sensitivity of these “drumhead” modes to size and shape is assessed by comparing thefrequencies of the lowest drumhead modes of a family of circular shaped (the coronene“family”) and rhombus shaped (the pyrene “family”) PAH molecules. From this study, someconsequences for an observing strategy are drawn.

Type
Research Article
Copyright
© EAS, EDP Sciences 2011

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