Abstract
The rotational transition of the HC ion has been observed with the same apparatus used earlier for detection of C. A discharge in various mixtures of hydrogen and carbon monoxide cooled to near liquid-nitrogen temperature was employed in a slow-flow system. The frequency we have obtained is 89 188.545±0.020 MHz, but because of the ion drift velocity in the dc discharge this exceeds, by an unknown but small amount, the true rest frequency. This observation confirms the long-standing contention that the radio astronomical -ogen line is in fact due to HC.
- Received 11 August 1975
DOI:https://doi.org/10.1103/PhysRevLett.35.1269
©1975 American Physical Society