The group of bands occurring in the spectra of comets near 4050 A has been produced in the laboratory and photographed under high resolution. By using deuterium in the source, it has been verified that the molecule emitting the bands does not contain hydrogen; by using the C13 isotope, it has been indicated that the emitter does contain more than one carbon atom. Although the exact composition of the emitting molecule has not been unambiguously determined, evidence from the fine structure of the 4050 A band and the isotope effect indicate that it may be a linear triatomic carbon olecule, C2.
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A. E. Douglas (1951) studied this question.