A mixture of the polycyclic aromatic hydrocarbons (PAHs), acenaphthylene and acenaphthene, when subjected to the energetic environment of a hydrogen plasma, is transformed into a material that exhibits an infrared absorption profile in the 3 μm region that is an excellent match of the protoplanetary nebula IRAS 05341+0852 emission profile in the same wavelength region. Acenaphthylene and acenaphthene were chosen as precursors in the experiment because these molecules have a structure that can be described as a keystone in a process in which carbon atoms in a stellar wind condense into PAH species. The spectral match between experiment and observations appears to validate that scenario. © 1997. The American Astronomical Society. All rights reserved.
CITATION STYLE
Beegle, L. W., Wdowiak, T. J., & Arnoult, K. M. (1997). A Laboratory Analog for the Carrier of the 3 Micron Emission of the Protoplanetary Nebula IRAS 05341+0852. The Astrophysical Journal, 486(2), L153–L155. https://doi.org/10.1086/310841
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