J. R. Pardo, J. P. Fonfría, M. Agúndez, B. Tercero, C. Cabezas, L. Velilla-Prieto, M. Guélin, P. de Vicente, and J. Cernicharo
reported on the
Detection of SiC₆ in IRC +10216 through //Q//-band lines
Astron. Astrophys. 700, L6 (2025).
Hexapentaenediylidenesilylene, also known as silaheptahexaenediylidene, was detected in a line survey of CW Leonis in the 31.0 to 50.3 GHz region carried out with the 40 m Yebes telescope. 14 transitions with J' = 26 − 31 and 33 − 40 were covered with mostly good signal-to-noise ratio. Of these, 8 were not or only slightly blended and 2 were partly unblended. A rotational temperature of ~19 K was determined, in agreement with the more uncertain ~21 K determined for SiC₄. The latter molecule is almost a factor of 10 more abundant than SiC₆.

Contributor(s): H. S. P. Müller; 08, 2025