Dr. Dan W. Bardayan
Senior Research Staff
Oak Ridge National Laboratory
Some of the most compelling scientific questions involve our origins and the origin of the chemical elements from which we are made. Many elements are thought to have been synthesized in cataclysmic stellar explosions such as novae and supernovae. Novae are the more common of the two with approximately 25 occurring each year in the Milky Way Galaxy. Despite intense study of novae over all wavelengths and incredible advances in the computational simulation of these events, there are many characteristics that are not understood such as how hot do they get or how much material gets ejected as ashes into space. A more direct probe comes from the observations of exotic nuclei in nova ejecta
In this talk, Bardayan will describe how measurements made in the nuclear laboratory are vital to interpreting these observations, and how newly-constructed facilitieswill be used to constrain nova nucleosynthesis.
Gamma-ray Vision of Novae and Exotic Nuclei
Originally published at physics.nd.edu.