An update to the MARVEL dataset and ExoMol line list for 12C2

Abstract

The spectrum of dicarbon (C2) is important in astrophysics and for spectroscopic studies of plasmas and flames. The C2 spectrum is characterized by many band systems with new ones still being actively identified; astronomical observations involve eight of these bands. Recently, Furtenbacher et al. (2016, Astrophys. J. Suppl., 224, 44) presented a set of 5699 empirical energy levels for 12C2, distributed among 11 electronic states and 98 vibronic bands, derived from 42 experimental studies and obtained using the MARVEL (Measured Active Rotational-Vibrational Energy Levels) procedure. Here, we add data from 13 new sources and update data from 5 sources. Many of these data sources characterize high-lying electronic states, including the newly detected 3Pig state. Older studies have been included following improvements in the MARVEL procedure which allow their uncertainties to be estimated. These older works in particular determine levels in the C1Pig state, the upper state of the insufficiently characterized Deslandres-d'Azambuja (C1Pig-A1Piu) band. The new compilation considers a total of 31323 transitions and derives 7047 empirical(MARVEL) energy levels spanning 20 electronic and 142 vibronic states. These new empirical energy levels are used here to update the 8states C2 ExoMol line list. This updated line list is highly suitable for high-resolution cross-correlation studies in astronomical spectroscopy of, for example, exoplanets, as 99.4% of the transitions with intensities over 10^(-18) cm/molecule at 1000 K have frequencies determined by empirical energy levels.