Nuclear astrophysics is a research area at the interface of nuclear physics and astrophysics that investigates how nuclear processes govern the origin, evolution, and observable properties of cosmic objects and matter. It focuses on nuclear reaction rates, decay schemes, and equation-of-state properties under astrophysical conditions, and applies them to models of stellar structure, nucleosynthesis, supernovae, compact objects, and the early universe. The field integrates laboratory measurements, theoretical nuclear structure and reaction calculations, and astronomical observations to constrain reaction networks and to interpret elemental and isotopic abundances, energy generation, and neutrino and gravitational-wave signals in astrophysical environments.
Niobium-94, an isotope of niobium with 41 protons and 53 neutrons, is a critical crossroads in the complex nuclear processes that forge heavy elements under the intense pressures and temperatures of dying stars. In an article ...
General Physics
Aug 19, 2026
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In two separate papers published in Physical Review Letters, researchers investigated the nuclear reactions that take place inside supernovae and X-ray bursts—two of the universe's most powerful explosions. Together, the ...
Astronomy
Aug 17, 2026
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Where do gold, platinum and uranium come from? This question has fascinated astrophysicists and nuclear physicists for decades. A research team from Technische Universität Darmstadt has now taken an important step toward ...
General Physics
Jul 30, 2026
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A scientific team led by Facility for Rare Isotope Beams, or FRIB, has identified the origin of a mysterious excess of low-energy gamma rays emitted by the nucleus zinc-70. They found that the excess is caused by magnetic ...
General Physics
Jul 24, 2026
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57
In a single experiment, physicists have measured the "excess" emission of high-energy gamma rays from more than a dozen heavy, unstable atomic nuclei. Mapping the gamma-ray emissions of so many isotopes produced in nuclear ...
General Physics
Jul 16, 2026
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Neutrinos: They have no electric charge, pass through matter like a ghost and are so light they were initially thought to have zero mass. These are just some of the traits that make them so difficult to detect. Research on ...
Astronomy
Jul 3, 2026
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Debris is still raining down on Earth more than 100 million years after the giant cosmic explosion that created it. A study published this week in Nature Astronomy by an international team reached this conclusion using measurements ...
Astrobiology
Jun 15, 2026
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301
When a star dies, it generates an explosion of elemental nuclei and hurls them into space. Those elements, called cosmic rays, travel at nearly the speed of light, and eventually some of them encounter manmade detectors. ...
General Physics
Jun 13, 2026
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How are heavy elements formed in the universe? Extremely neutron-rich atomic nuclei and their beta-decay rates play an important role in this process. Until now, it has been very difficult to determine these rates experimentally. ...
General Physics
Jun 9, 2026
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Using a novel simulation model based on machine learning, an international research team at GSI/FAIR has succeeded in gaining a deeper understanding of element formation in stellar events such as neutron star mergers. For ...
Astronomy
Jun 8, 2026
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