Knowledge Bank

A new band system, attributable on experimental grounds to the diatomic molecule CbO, was obtained at 6000-8800 \AA. The bands were excited in the dc arc between pure Columbium electrodes and were photographed on a Hilger $E1$ spectrograph with glass optics. The system consists of about 240 bands degraded to the red and apparently divided into 5 sequences. The strongest sequence (between 6496 and 6828 \AA) possibly corresponds to $\Delta \nu =0$, and a preliminary analysis indicates lower-state differences of 981, $970cm-1$, etc. This suggests the possibility of the system having a common lower state with the earlier $studied1$ system, A, in the visible region. The present system (designated C) should correspond to a transition between quartet or doublet terms involving multiplet structure. This, together with the considerable overlap of System C on System $B1$ might explain the difficulty experienced in following up any sequence, as can be expected if the multiplet separation is near the vibrational separation. Detailed analysis of the bands is in progress. Facilities for this work were afforded by the University of Chicago.