a strong emission feature at 21 microns was discovered by kwok et al. (1989), in the spectra of five carbon-rich proto-planetary nebulae (ppne), using spectra in the iras low resolution spectrometer data base. since then, the reality of the feature has been confirmed by airborne (omont et al. 1995a, 1995b) and ground-based observations (kwok et al. 1993, justtanont et al. 1996). meanwhile more ppne have been found to have a 21 micron feature in their spectra (kwok et al. 1995, justtanont et al. 1996) making this band a distinct signature of this class of objects. we have recently identified 12 more candidates displaying the 21 micron feature, possibly including a few young stellar objects and hii regions. however, the quality of the iras data is not sufficient to prove the reality of the feature (henning et al. 1996). furthermore, neither the ground-based data nor the original detections are sufficient to identify the carrier of this feature. we propose to obtain iso sws spectra of these sources in order to better constrain the carriers of the 21 micron emission band and to hopefully identify them using existing and future laboratory work.
Instrument
SWS01
Temporal Coverage
1997-01-22T20:55:44Z/1998-03-26T23:27:34Z
Version
1.0
Mission Description
The Infrared Space Observatory (ISO) was the worlds first true orbiting infrared observatory. Equipped with four highly-sophisticated and versatile scientific instruments, it was launched by Ariane in November 1995 and provided astronomers world-wide with a facility of unprecedented sensitivity and capabilities for a detailed exploration of the Universe at infrared wavelengths.
