Speaker
Description
Nucleosynthesis from cosmic sources is encoded in the variety of isotopes, some of which we can observe today. Space-based gamma-ray telescopes have observed nuclear emission from freshly-produced and unstable isotopes as they decay in interstellar space. Short-lived 56Ni and 44Ti has been measured in supernovae, and help understand the complexity of launching a supernova, for the thermonuclear and for the core-collapse type. More long-lived 26Al and 60Fe accumulates from many such sources, and tells us about the cumulative output from massive-star clusters, and about pre-supernova burning stages within the massive stars. In this talk we will discuss what has been learned from more than two decades of nuclear gamma ray spectroscopy on the interiors of stars and supernova explosions, and on how they spread new nuclei in interstellar space. We will also address how this astronomical technology works, and how it can be advanced.