A time reversed measurement of the 18F(a,p)21Ne reaction

核天体物理学是核物理的众多应用之一，也是最令人兴奋的应用之一。它试图解释我们周围的所有元素，空气中的氧气，血液中的铁，计算机芯片中的硅，都是从哪里来的。它们是在哪里形成的，是如何形成的？最重要的是，核天体物理学试图了解核反应如何影响所有恒星的生死。这些微小的东西是如何影响像恒星这样的大质量物体的呢？大多数恒星是通过燃烧稳定的元素来获得能量的，比如我们熟悉的碳和氧，在很长一段时间内。能量是由核反应产生的，将一种元素转化为另一种元素。然而，并不是所有类型的碳都是一样的。不同类型的恒星具有不同数量的中子(但质子数量相同)，被称为同位素。天文学家可以通过观察恒星发出的光来研究恒星。通过这种光，他们可以知道产生了什么元素，这为核物理学家提供了关于哪些核反应可能是重要的信息。拟议的研究计划将使用温哥华TRIUMF实验室提供的束流来研究一种影响恒星中特定同位素氟和霓虹灯产生的反应。

Nuclear astrophysics is one of the many applications of nuclear physics and arguably one of the most exciting. It tries to explain where all the elements around us, the oxygen in the air, the iron in our blood, the silicon in computer chips, come from. Where and how were they formed? On top of this, nuclear astrophysics tries to understand how nuclear reactions affect the life and death of all stars. How do such tiny things influence such massive objects as stars?Most stars get their energy by burning stable elements, such as the carbon and oxygen we are familiar with, over long periods of time. The energy is produced by nuclear reactions, turning one element into another. However, not all types of carbon, for example, are the same. Different types have different numbers of neutrons (but the same number of protons) and are called isotopes.Astronomers can study stars by looking at the light that shines from them. From this light they can tell what elements are produced and this gives nuclear physicists information on which nuclear reactions could be important. The proposed research programme will use the beams available at the TRIUMF laboratory in Vancouver to study one reaction which influences how particular isotopes of fluorine and neon are produced in stars.