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Unidentified Infrared Emission Bands

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Encyclopedia of Astrobiology

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Definition

The term unidentified infrared emission (UIE) bands refers to a family of emission features observed in a variety of astronomical sources, including the aromatic features at 3.3, 6.2, 7.7, 8.6, and 11.3 μm; aliphatic features at 3.4 and 6.9 μm; and broad emission plateaus at 8, 12, and 17 μm, as well as a host of weaker features that are too broad to be atomic or molecular lines.

History

A family of strong infrared emission bands at 3.3, 6.2, 7.7, 8.6, 11.3, and 12.7 μm were first detected in the young carbon-rich planetary nebula NGC 7027 (Gillett et al. 1973; Russell et al. 1977) (Fig. 1) and in the reflection nebula HD 44179 (Russell et al. 1978). Since the initial discovery, these features are now widely observed in HII regions, reflection nebulae, planetary nebulae, protoplanetary nebulae, and the diffuse interstellar medium of our own and other galaxies.

Fig. 1
figure 1

Infrared Space Observatory (ISO) spectrum of the planetary nebula NGC 7027 showing the UIE bands (labeled in red...

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References and Further Reading

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Authors and Affiliations

  1. Faculty of Science, The University of Hong Kong, Pokfulam Road, Hong Kong, China

    Sun Kwok

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  1. Sun Kwok
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Correspondence to Sun Kwok .

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Editors and Affiliations

  1. Centro de Biología Molecular, Universidad Autónoma de Madrid, Madrid, Spain

    Ricardo Amils

  2. Labo. d'Astrophysique de Bordeaux (LAB), Observatoire Aquitain des Sciences de l'Univers (OASU), Floirac CX, France

    Muriel Gargaud

  3. Centro de Astrobiología (CAB), Inst. Nacional de Técnica Aeroespacial, Torrejón de Ardoz, Madrid, Spain

    José Cernicharo Quintanilla

  4. Geophysical Lab., Carnegie Institution of Washington, Washington, District of Columbia, USA

    Henderson James Cleaves

  5. Astronomy Department, University of Massachusetts, Amherst, Massachusetts, USA

    William M. Irvine

  6. Dépt. Sc. de la Terre et de l’Atmosphère, Université du Québec, Montréal, Montreal, Québec, Canada

    Daniele Pinti

  7. Centre National d'Etudes Spatiale (CNES) DPI/E2U, Paris CX, France

    Michel Viso

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© 2014 Springer-Verlag Berlin Heidelberg

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Kwok, S. (2014). Unidentified Infrared Emission Bands. In: Amils, R., et al. Encyclopedia of Astrobiology. Springer, Berlin, Heidelberg. https://doi.org/10.1007/978-3-642-27833-4_5077-4

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  • DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/978-3-642-27833-4_5077-4

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  • Online ISBN: 978-3-642-27833-4

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