Facts and Artifacts in Interstellar Diamond Spectra

Abstract

Absorption spectra of presolar diamonds extracted from the Murchison meteorite have been measured in the extended wavelength range 0.2-500 /xm in order to make available optical properties of this supposed component of interstellar carbon dust. In contrast to terrestrial natural and synthetic diamonds, spectra of the meteoritic diamonds show prominent bands in the middle-IR. In this Letter, experimental evidence is presented that the OH band at 3200 cm-1 and the CH bands in the 2800-3000 cm-1 range are not intrinsic features of the diamonds and that the band at 1100 cm-1 contains an artificial component due to the extraction procedure. In addition, in our spectra a conspicuous band at 120 cm-1 was found. If the intrinsic character of this band, which, up to now, is unidentified, is confirmed, it would offer a chance to observe interstellar diamonds, e.g., by the ISO satellite. We encourage laboratory astrophysicists and observers to study this promising possibility. © 1995 IOP Publishing Ltd.