Context : A discharge of nitrogen gas , as created in a microwave-induced plasma , exhibits a very dense molecular emission line spectrum .
Emission spectra of this kind could serve as wavelength calibrators for high-resolution astrophysical spectrographs in the near-infrared , where only very few calibration sources are currently available .

Aims : The compilation of a spectral line list and the characterization of line intensities and line density belong to the initial steps when investigating the feasibility of potential wavelength calibration sources .
Although the molecular nitrogen spectrum was extensively studied in the past , to our knowledge , no line list exists that covers a continuous range of several thousand wavenumbers in the near-infrared .

Methods : We recorded three high-resolution ( \Delta \tilde { \nu } = 0.018 cm ^ { -1 } ) spectra of a nitrogen gas discharge operated at different microwave powers .
The nitrogen gas is kept inside a sealed glass cell at a pressure of 2 mbar .
The emission lines in the spectra were fitted by a superposition of Gaussian profiles to determine their position , relative intensity , and width .
The line parameters were corrected for an absolute wavelength scale , instrumental line broadening , and intensity modulation .
Molecular and atomic transitions of nitrogen were identified with available line positions from the literature .

Results : We report line lists with more than 40 000 emission lines in the spectral range 4500 - 11000 cm ^ { -1 } ( 0.9 - 2.2 \mu m ) The line lists and spectra are available in electronic form at the CDS via anonymous ftp to cdsarc.u-strasbg.fr ( 130.79.128.5 ) or via http : //cdsarc.u-strasbg.fr/viz-bin/qcat ? J/A+A/vol/page .
The spectra exhibit emission lines over the complete spectral range under investigation with about 350 - 1300 lines per 100 cm ^ { -1 } .
Depending on the microwave power , a fraction of 35 \% - 55 \% of all lines are blended .
The total dynamic range of the detected lines covers about four orders of magnitude .

Conclusions : Line density and peak intensities qualify the recorded discharge as a useful wavelength calibrator , and the line list provides an empirical reference for nitrogen spectra in the near-infrared .