Published online by Cambridge University Press: 14 August 2015
We present a preliminary analysis of a number of spectrophotometric scans of reddened and unreddened early-type stars obtained with the OAO-A2 satellite. The principal findings are: (1) all the extinction curves show a ‘bump’ at 1/λ ≈ 4.5; (2) most extinction curves show a minimum at 1/λ ≈ 5.5–6.0; (3) all the extinction curves show a rapid rise in the far ultraviolet; and (4) there appear to be real differences in the far ultraviolet extinction. A brief comparison of our observed extinction curves is made with theoretical particle models.