On the viability of the PAH model as an explanation of the unidentified infrared emission features

Abstract

Polycyclic aromatic hydrocarbon (PAH) molecules are widely considered as the preferred candidate for the carrier of the unidentified infrared emission bands observed in the interstellar medium and circumstellar envelopes. In this paper we report the result of fitting a variety of non-PAH spectra (silicates, hydrogenated amorphous carbon, coal and even artificial spectra) using the theoretical infrared spectra of PAHs from the NASA Ames PAH IR Spectroscopic Database. We show that these non-PAH spectra can be well fitted by PAH mixtures. This suggest that a general match between astronomical spectra and those of PAH mixtures does not necessarily provide definitive support for the PAH hypothesis.