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Recent limitations in the TiO line list used in cross-correlation detection schemes have made the detection and quantification of TiO in exoplanetary atmospheres challenging. The quality of the line list appears to degrade at wavelengths shorter than 630 nm. The C –X electronic transition has strong rovibronic bands near 500 nm. In an effort to improve the line list, a spectrum of TiO in a furnace at 1950 K is analyzed, and the assigned lines of the C –X transition are fit with the Hamiltonian in the molecular spectrum fitting software, PGOPHER. Several newly determined molecular constants are reported and the average error in fitting the line positions is 0.017 cm−1 or ∼1 ppm relative error. The new line positions are expected to resolve any problems with cross-correlation templates near 500 nm. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Molecular ions are key reaction intermediates in the interstellar medium. OH+ plays a central role in the formation of more complex chemical species and for estimating the cosmic ray ionization rate in astrophysical environments. Here, we use a recent analysis of a laboratory spectrum in conjunction with ab initio methods to calculate infrared and ultraviolet oscillator strengths. These new oscillator strengths include branch dependent intensity corrections, arising from the Herman–Wallis effect, that have not been included before. We estimate 10% total uncertainty in the UV and 6% total uncertainty in the IR for the oscillator strengths. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The OH+ ion is of critical importance to the chemistry in the interstellar medium and is a prerequisite for the generation of more complex chemical species. Submillimeter and ultraviolet observations rely on high quality laboratory spectra. Recent measurements of the fundamental vibrational band and previously unanalyzed Fourier transform spectra of the near-ultraviolet A3Π−X3Σ− electronic spectrum, acquired at the National Solar Observatory at Kitt Peak in 1989, provide an excellent opportunity to perform a global fit of the available data. These new optical data are approximately four times more precise as compared to the previous values. The fit to the new data provides updated molecular constants, which are necessary to predict the OH+ transition frequencies accurately to support future observations. These new constants are the first published using the modern effective Hamiltonian for a linear molecule. These new molecular constants allow for easy simulation of transition frequencies and spectra using the PGOPHER program. The new constants improve simulations of higher J-value infrared transitions, and represent an improvement of an order of magnitude for some constants pertaining to the optical transitions. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The molecular ion OH+ has long been known to be an important component of the interstellar medium. Its relative abundance can be used to indirectly measure cosmic ray ionization rates of hydrogen, and it is the first intermediate in the interstellar formation of water. To date, only a limited number of pure rotational transitions have been observed in the laboratory making it necessary to indirectly calculate rotational levels from high-precision rovibrational spectroscopy. We have remeasured 30 transitions in the fundamental band with MHz-level precision, in order to enable the prediction of a THz spectrum of OH+. The ions were produced in a water cooled discharge of O2, H2, and He, and the rovibrational transitions were measured with the technique Noise Immune Cavity Enhanced Optical Heterodyne Velocity Modulation Spectroscopy. These values have been included in a global fit of field free data to a 3Σ− linear molecule effective Hamiltonian to determine improved spectroscopic parameters which were used to predict the pure rotational transition frequencies. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]