TLAs are "Three Letter Acronyms".
These are things that scientists and
particularly astronomers seem to be very fond of.
So as not to baffle anyone,
I am compiling a list of TLAs,
Here are just a few:

ISM = Interstellar Medium - that's basically dust and molecules to you

PAH = polycyclic aromatic hydrocarbon - some of the molecules in the ISM are PAHs

HAC = hydrogenated amorphous carbon - some of the dust in the ISM is made up of HACs - HACs are are probably made up of PAHs

AGB stars = These are evolved stars where dust and molecules like HACs and PAHs are formed

UIR bands - Unidentified Infrared Bands - These are infrared emission/absorption bands attributed to PAHs/HACs

DIBs - Diffuse Interstellar Bands - Like UIR bands but in the visible spectrum and attributed to ionised PAHs

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akspeck@astro.uiuc.edu