DETECTION OF C5N- AND VIBRATIONALLY EXCITED C6H IN IRC+10216

We report the detection in the envelope of the C-rich star IRC + 10216 of four series of lines with harmonically related frequencies: B1389, B1390, B1394, and B1401. The four series must arise from linear molecules with mass and size close to those of C6H and C5N. Three of the series have half-integer rotational quantum numbers; we assign them to the (2)Delta and (2)Sigma(-) vibronic states of C6H in its lowest (nu(11)) bending mode. The fourth series, B1389, has integer J with no evidence of fine or hyperfine structure; it has a rotational constant of 1388.860(2) MHz and a centrifugal distortion constant of 33(1) Hz; it is almost certainly the C5N- anion.