Abstract
WE have previously found1 intensity ratios of the four microwave lines of OH in disagreement with the theoretical and laboratory ratios2 of 1 : 5 : 9 : 1 for the lines at 1,612, 1,665, 1,667 and 1,720 Mc/s. For the strong OH absorption of the radio source Sagittarius A it appeared that the ratios might be attributed to high opacity3. We now report a more detailed series of measurements which shows that high opacity alone cannot account for the observations and that disturbed populations of the levels have to be invoked.
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References
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MCGEE, R., ROBINSON, B., GARDNER, F. et al. Anomalous Intensity Ratios of the Interstellar Lines of OH in Absorption and Emission. Nature 208, 1193–1195 (1965). https://doi.org/10.1038/2081193a0
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DOI: https://doi.org/10.1038/2081193a0
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