Diffuse interstellar bands in the near-infrared: Expanding the reddening range

Abstract: We have investigated the behaviour of three strong near-infrared diffuse interstellar bands (DIBs) at {\lambda}13177 {\AA}, {\lambda}14680 {\AA}, and {\lambda}15272 {\AA}, on a larger sample of sightlines and over a wider range of extinctions than previously studied, utilizing spectra from three observatories. We applied two telluric correction techniques to reduce atmospheric contamination and have used Gaussian fits to characterise the DIB profiles and measure equivalent widths. We confirmed strong and approximately linear correlations with reddening of the {\lambda}13177 {\AA}, {\lambda}14680 {\AA} and {\lambda}15272 {\AA} DIBs, extending them to higher reddening values and strengthening their link to interstellar matter. Modelling of the {\lambda}14680 {\AA} DIB profiles revealed intrinsic variations, including line broadening, linked to their formation processes. This effect is particularly pronounced in the Galactic Centre (GC) environment, where multiple diffuse molecular clouds along the line of sight contribute to line broadening. We have detected one new DIB candidate at {\lambda}14795 {\AA} on sightlines with high reddening.