Questions tagged [nucleosynthesis]
Questions to do with how new atomic nuclei are created inside the universe.
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Can stars be less wasteful of their nuclear fuel?
When a star dies (either in a nova, supernova, or any other end of its evolution), it always leaves behind residual unfused hydrogen, helium or any other unfused product that was not available in a ...
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Star power: How can we understand nuclear chemistry at millions of degrees when we can't do that experiment? Because the math predicts observations?
I really want to know two things:
Is it actually true that we can't model nuclear reactions at millions of degrees, because we CAN in accelerators? My understanding is that we can't, but I'm always ...
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Why do we want to normalize the solar abundance of elements to Si?
When discussing nucleosynthesis, there is typically a line graph of atomic number vs. relative abundance, like the ones shown in this Wikipedia article. The relative abundance is normalized to a ...
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Does nucleosynthesis such as R Process, S Process, and P process occur in relativistic jets?
By answering a recent question about relativistic jets and their cooling I became more curious about relativistic jets. This might be a totally another sub topic on relativistic jets. But I was ...
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Where can I find the $\mu$ value in galaxy clusters for ideal gas law?
I am studying hydrostatic equilibrium in galaxy clusters and encountered the following expression:
$P=(kT/\mu m_p)\rho$
The interpretation of this formula is obvious. It is just the ideal gas law ...
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Is there a way to compare input and output energy of solar fusion to the input and output energy of man made fusion?
The Livermore fusion experiment was said to be 2 MJ of energy in and 3 MJ of energy out. However upon closer inspection the facility used 300 MJ of energy. So man-made fusion currently uses 300 MJ ...
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Do stars become more metal-rich as they evolve?
Since we determine the metallicity of a star ([Fe/H] or Z) from surface emission, does this change as it ages? For instance, can a young star with a measured [Fe/H] of -0.02 have a higher value when ...
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In layman's terms, why does the cold C-N-O process end in Carbon?
I read up a little bit on fusion in stars, layman's articles only and the P-P chain makes hydrogen or Alpha particles. (error removed on triple-alpha), then the C-N-O process adds hydrogen to the ...
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Why alpha-process cannot work beyond iron? [duplicate]
In the book The Synthesis of Elements by Giora Shaviv (Springer, 2012) on page 383 is the following set of reactions and statement about alpha-process:
"The process cannot go beyond iron because,...
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In the context of stellar nucleosyntheis, is Xenon-130 a primary or secondary isotope?
With the definitions: 'a primary isotope is any isotope which can be synthesised in a star which starts its life containing only hydrogen and helium', and a secondary isotope is any isotope which ...
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In the context of stellar nucleosyntheis, is Xenon-130 a primary or secondary isotope? [duplicate]
With the definitions: 'a primary isotope is any isotope which can be synthesised in a star which starts its life containing only hydrogen and helium', and a secondary isotope is any isotope which ...
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Does the core of the sun bounce around because of turbulent hot gas around it?
How much does the core of the sun wobble and does this affect light reaching the Earth?
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How are the products of stellar nucleosynthesis sorted as found in planets?
Stellar nucleosynthesis is responsible for creating the elements heavier than lithium (except perhaps some of the heaviest that might result from neutron star collisions).
Eventually, the star goes ...
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How to look up "all things astrophysical" about A=9 (or other light isobars)?
All the light isobars (group with same atomic number mass) are interesting and quirky, but let's use A=9 as an example. 9C and 9Li beta decay to particle unbound states in 9B and 9Be (except to 9Be's ...
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Can the JWST track element abundances throughout time? Would this be of any interest at all?
Now that the JWST is peering further and further back into the cosmos, I came to a few questions that I would love to see answered. We know that models of the big bang nucleosynthesis result in ...