  We demonstrate Purcell-like enhancement of Rayleigh scattering into a single
optical mode of a Fabry-Perot resonator for several thermal atomic and
molecular gases. The light is detuned by more than an octave, in this case by
hundreds of nanometers, from any optical transition, making particle excitation
and spontaneous emission negligible. The enhancement of light scattering into
the resonator is explained quantitatively as an interference effect of light
waves emitted by a classical driven dipole oscillator. Applications of our
method include the sensitive, non-destructive in-situ detection of ultracold
molecules.
