Bibcode
García-Hernández, D. A.; Díaz-Luis, J. J.
Bibliographical reference
Astronomy and Astrophysics, Volume 550, id.L6, 5 pp.
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2
2013
Journal
Citations
30
Refereed citations
23
Description
We present high-resolution (R ~ 15 000) VLT/UVES optical spectra of two
planetary nebulae (PNe; Tc 1 and M 1-20) where C60 (and
C70) fullerenes have already been found. These spectra are of
high quality (S/N > 300) for PN Tc 1, which permits us to search for
the expected electronic transitions of neutral C60 and
diffuse interstellar bands (DIBs). Surprisingly, we report the
non-detection of the most intense optical bands of C60 in Tc
1, although this could be explained by the low C60 column
density estimated from the C60 infrared bands if the
C60 emission peaks far away from the central star. The
strongest and most common DIBs in both fullerene PNe are normal for
their reddening. Interestingly, the very broad 4428 Å DIB and the
weaker 6309 Å DIB are found to be unusually intense in Tc 1. We
also report the detection of a new broad (FWHM ~ 5 Å) unidentified
band at ~6525 Å. We propose that the 4428 Å DIB (probably
also the 6309 Å DIB and the new 6525 Å band) may be related
to the presence of larger fullerenes (e.g., C80,
C240, C320, and C540) and buckyonions
(multishell fullerenes such as C60@C240 and
C60@C240@C540) in the circumstellar
envelope of Tc 1.
Appendix A is available in electronic form at http://www.aanda.org
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García Hernández