  C$_3$, a pure carbon chain molecule that has been identified in different
astronomical environments, is considered a good probe of kinetic temperatures
through observation of transitions involving its low-lying bending mode
($\nu_2$) in its ground electronic state. The present laboratory work aims to
investigate this bending mode with multiple quanta of excitation by combining
recordings of high resolution optical and infrared spectra of C$_3$ produced in
discharge experiments. The optical spectra of rovibronic (A $^1\Pi_u -$ X
$^1\Sigma_g^+$) transitions have been recorded by laser induced fluorescence
spectroscopy using a single longitude mode optical parametric oscillator as
narrow bandwidth laser source at the University of Science and Technology of
China. 36 bands originating from X(0$v_2$0), $v_2 = 0-5$, are assigned. The
mid-infrared spectrum of the rovibrational $\nu_3$ band has been recorded by
Fourier-transform infrared spectroscopy using a globar source on the AILES
beamline of the SOLEIL synchrotron facility. The spectrum reveals hot bands
involving up to 5 quanta of excitation in $\nu_2$. From combining analyses of
all the presently recorded spectra and literature data, accurate rotational
parameters and absolute energy levels of C$_3$, in particular for states
involving the bending mode, are determined. A single PGOPHER file containing
all available data involving the X and A states (literature and present study)
is used to fit all the data. The spectroscopic information derived from this
work enables new interstellar searches for C$_3$, not only in the infrared and
optical regions investigated here but also notably in the $\nu_2$ band region
(around 63 cm$^{-1}$) where vibrational satellites can now be accurately
predicted. This makes C$_3$ a universal diagnostic tool to study very different
astronomical environments, from dark and dense to translucent clouds.
