Led by nuclear astrophysicist Kelly Chipps of the Department of Energy’s Oak Ridge National Laboratory, scientists working in the lab have produced a signature nuclear reaction that occurs on the surface of a neutron star gobbling mass from a companion star. Their achievement improves understanding of stellar processes generating diverse nuclear isotopes.

“Neutron stars are really fascinating from the points of view of both nuclear physics and astrophysics,” said Chipps, who led the study, which was published in Physical Review Letters. “A deeper understanding of their dynamics may help reveal the cosmic recipes of elements in everything from people to planets.”

Chipps heads the Jet Experiments in Nuclear Structure and Astrophysics, or JENSA, which has collaborators from nine institutions in three countries. The team uses a unique gas jet target system, which produces the world’s highest-density helium jet for accelerator experiments, to understand nuclear reactions that proceed with the same physics on Earth as in outer space.

The process of nucleosynthesis creates new atomic nuclei. One element can turn into another when protons or neutrons are captured, exchanged or expelled.

A neutron star has an immense gravitational pull that can capture hydrogen and helium from a nearby star. The material amasses on the neutron star surface until it ignites in repeated explosions that create new chemical elements.

Many nuclear reactions powering the explosions remain unstudied. Now, JENSA collaborators have produced one of these signature nuclear reactions in a lab at Michigan State University. It directly constrains the theoretical model typically used to predict element formation and improves understanding of the stellar dynamics that generate isotopes.