9315268 Herbig Studies of the Diffuse Interstellar Bands. The enigma of the Diffuse Interstellar Bands (DIBs) remains one of the outstanding problems of astronomical spectroscopy. Clearly their carriers are fairly common constituents of the interstellar medium yet remain unidentified despite some 60 years of effort. Dr. Herbig, at the University of Hawaii, will continue his research into the nature of DIBs. Specifically he will investigate whether polycarbon or chlorin molecules may be responsible for some DIBs. Efforts will also be made to determine if sodium atoms trapped in carbon 60 cages produce a DIB near 1.03 micrometers wavelength, whether DIBs can be detected in the ejected envelopes of carbon stars by spectroscopy of their companions, and whether there is a detectable enhancement of the DIBs in light scattered off the dust of reflection nebulae.
