The Apache Point Observatory Catalog of Optical Diffuse Interstellar Bands

TL;DR

This paper presents an updated and more comprehensive catalog of optical diffuse interstellar bands (DIBs) between 4,000 and 9,000 Å, based on high-quality spectra from selected sight lines, identifying new DIBs and refining existing measurements.

Contribution

The authors created an expanded catalog of 559 DIBs, including 22 newly identified bands, and provided detailed measurements and analysis of their properties across various interstellar environments.

Findings

22 new DIBs identified

Catalog contains 559 DIBs with updated boundaries

DIB detection correlates more with E(B-V) than spectral type

Abstract

Aiming for a new and more comprehensive DIB catalog between 4,000 and 9,000{\AA}, we revisited the Atlas Catalog based on the observations of HD 183143 and HD 204827 (Hobbs et al. 2008 and 2009). Twenty-five medium-to-highly reddened sight lines were selected, sampling a variety of spectral types of the background star and the interstellar environments. The median SNR of these spectra is ~ 1,300 around 6,400{\AA}. Compared to the Atlas Catalog, 22 new DIBs were found, and the boundaries of 27 (sets) of DIBs were adjusted, resulting in an updated catalog containing 559 DIBs that we refer to as the Apache Point Observatory Catalog of Optical Diffuse Interstellar Bands. Measurements were then made based on this catalog. We found our survey most sensitive between 5,500 and 7,000{\AA} due largely to the local SNR of the spectra, the relative absence of interfering stellar lines, and the weakness of telluric residuals. For our data sample, the number of DIBs detected in a given sight line is mostly dependent on EB-V and less on the spectral type of the background star. Some dependence on fH2 is observed, but less well-determined due to the limited size of the data sample. The variations of the wavelengths of each DIB in different sight lines are generally larger than those of the known interstellar lines CH+, CH, and K I. Those variations could be due to the inherent error in the measurement, or to differences in the velocity components among sight lines.