Abstract
DURING the past year, radio astronomers1,2 have been increasingly interested in microwave signals at frequencies of 1,612, 1,665, 1,667 and 1,720 Mc/s, produced by transitions between four energy levels of the OH molecule in the 2Π3/2 state. Theoretical and laboratory intensity ratios3 for the four microwave lines were found to be 1 : 5 : 9 : 1. It was reported1 recently that anomalous intensity ratios had been measured in the strong OH absorption lines of the radio source Sagittarius A. McGee et al.4 have extended their measurements to other radio sources and find emission and absorption at all four frequencies with instances of extremely anomalous intensity ratios.
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SYMONDS, J. Formation of Hydroxyl Molecules in Interstellar Space. Nature 208, 1195–1196 (1965). https://doi.org/10.1038/2081195a0
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DOI: https://doi.org/10.1038/2081195a0
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