text: Spherical top molecules have no net dipole moment. A pure rotational spectrum cannot be observed by absorption or emission spectroscopy because there is no permanent dipole moment whose rotation can be accelerated by the electric field of an incident photon. Also the polarizability is isotropic, so that pure rotational transitions cannot be observed by Raman spectroscopy either. Nevertheless, rotational constants can be obtained by ro–vibrational spectroscopy. This occurs when a molecule is polar in the vibrationally excited state. For example, the molecule methane is a spherical top but the asymmetric C-H stretching band shows rotational fine structure in the infrared spectrum, illustrated in rovibrational coupling. This spectrum is also interesting because it shows clear evidence of Coriolis coupling in the asymmetric structure of the band.