Rotational Transitions: What Are They?

[john t]

I read recently about rotational transitions being detected by radio telescopic spectroscopy for a substituted benzene in a gal cloud a ways away. My question is what is a rotational transition. I think it is a quantized change in angular momentum, but I'd like to picture it physically. Is it basically a change in angular velocity at a given mass?

 

[Bystander]

Is it basically a change in angular velocity at a given mass?

Yes.