Stars are mainly composed of light elements hydrogen and helium. However, a process called nucleosynthesis also takes place in their core.
Inside their cores, stars run some secret operations to produce heavy elements. A new study sheds light on this peculiar stellar activity.Researchers at the Argonne National Laboratory studied a nuclear reaction and measured conditions that can explain how heavy elements are formed inside stars.has been a mystery for scientists because it is still unclear what specific conditions and mechanisms cause the production of various heavy metals inside stars.
There are three types of neutron capture processes; the s-process andfor explaining the production of specific heavy elements such as lanthanum and barium in growing white dwarfs The i-process holds great importance because it occurs in environments with moderate neutron densities, unlike the extreme conditions required for the r-process or the lower neutron densities typical of the s-process.
The study authors also “reported on the measurement of a nuclear reaction that affects the production of lanthanum in the i-process.” Theythat “with the new constraints, scientists can confirm the neutron density required for an i-process. They can also confirm that rapidly accreting white dwarf stars are a viable site for the i-process.”The current study focuses on the nuclear reaction that leads to the formation of lanthanum in stars.
“We provide the first experimental constraints on the 139 Ba 140 Ba reaction rate, which is the dominant source of uncertainty for the production of lanthanum, a key indicator of 𝑖-process conditions,” the study authorsLanthanum plays an important role in understanding the i-process because its abundance in stars, along with elements like barium andThe study authors analyzed how the barium-139 nucleus captured neutrons — an important step in forming lanthanum in stars.
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