Samuel Giuliani

(ECT*), Trento, Italy 

About half of the chemical elements heavier than iron that found in nature are produced during the rapid neutron-capture process (r process). In August 2017, the observation of the kilonova light curve, an electromagnetic transient produced by the radioactive decay of r-process nuclei synthesized during the merger of two neutron stars, marked the beginning of a new era for r-process studies where nucleosynthesis predictions can be directly confronted with astronomical observations.

Anders Jerkstrand

Stockholm University

Supernovae produce elements across the periodic table and are probes of stellar evolution, explosion physics and compact object formation.

Ingo Tews

Los Alamos National Laboratory

Neutron stars contain the largest reservoirs of degenerate fermions, reaching the highest densities we can observe in the cosmos, and probe matter under conditions that cannot be recreated in terrestrial experiments. Throughout the Universe, a large number of high-energy, cataclysmic astrophysical collisions of neutron stars are continuously occurring.

JINA-CEE and IReNA will organize “JINA Horizons” on November 30 - December 4, 2020 - a virtual meeting that brings together the international nuclear astrophysics community to discuss open questions and future directions.

Terese Hansen

Texas A&M University

A small fraction of old, metal-poor stars exhibits large enhancements in elements produced in the rapid neutron capture (r-)process. Their chemical composition, mapped through detailed abundance analysis, is a direct fingerprint of the elements produced in the stellar generation before them. This makes them excellent laboratories for studying the r-process. The first r-process enhanced star was discovered over 30 years ago. Since then, about 30 highly r-process enhances stars have been found in the Milky Way halo.

Mortiz Reichert

TU Darmstadt

Abstract: About half of the heavy elements in our Universe are synthesized by one process, the rapid neutron capture process (r-process). This process requires extreme and violent environments that achieve the necessary neutron-rich conditions. Neutron star mergers and magneto rotational driven supernovae are promising candidates to host the r-process. We investigate the r-process from an observational as well as a nucleosynthesis point of view.

Chiaki Kobayashi

University of Hertfordshire

Abstract: Galactic chemical evolution (GCE) can provide stringent constraints not only on nuclear astrophysics but also on the formation and evolutionary history of the Milky Way itself, through an approach called Galactic archeology.

Jaspreet Randhawa

University of Notre Dame

Abstract: Type-I X-ray bursts (XRBs) are among the most frequent thermonuclear explosions in the Universe. Detailed models are required to constrain the mass-radius relation and other underlying physics through comparisons between the observations and models.

Sanjana Curtis

North Carolina State University

Abstract: The number of observed core-collapse supernova lightcurves is growing every day, providing valuable clues about progenitors, stellar evolution, the explosion mechanism, the nuclear equation of state, nucleosynthesis, and the formation of neutron stars and black holes. However, interpreting electromagnetic observables correctly is a formidable challenge, one that requires detailed and accurate theoretical modeling.

The ChETEC COST Action (CA16117), the IReNA NSF network of networks, and the NuGrid collaboration are organising a 3-day training school event on the topic of nuclear reaction rates, stellar nucleosynthesis, observations and implications for galactic chemical evolution.

Sabrina Huth 

TU Darmstadt

Abstract: We present new equations of state for applications in core-collapse supernova and neutron star merger simulations. We start by introducing an effective mass parametrization that is fit to recent microscopic calculations up to twice saturation density. This is important to capture the predicted thermal effects, which have been shown to determine the proto-neutron star contraction in supernova simulations.

PAN is a free week-long program for current high school students.

Online PAN: Both Michigan State University and the University of Notre Dame have cancelled in-person K-12 summer programs for 2020.

The Seminar will begin at 2pm EST Online Seminar featuring Benoit Cote (Konkoly Observatory)

Statistical estimates of nuclear reaction rates are essential ingredients for astrophysical model calculations, e.g. r-process nucleosynthesis in neutron star mergers, and nuclear applications, e.g. next generation nuclear reactor performance. Rate calculations require experimental or theoretical constraints for nuclear properties such as level densities (temperature), gamma-strength functions, particle optical potentials, and level spin distributions.

Please join us on July 8th 2020 from 1:00-3:00 EDT for an online symposium to honor the late pioneer Eleanor Margaret Burbidge. This event will celebrate her life and science through short talks from her colleagues and collaborators as well as researchers who have benefited from her trailblazing and scientific insights.

Speakers include:
 

Megan Donahue - Michigan State University and past president of AAS

George Fuller - University California, San Diego

Anneila Sargent - California Institute of Technology

This virtual workshop is organized within FA1 and consists of a series of 4 seminars. The purpose is to build and strengthen international collaborations in nuclear astrophysics issues related to stellar burning (broadly defined). The structure will take advantage of the online format, taking place for 2-hour sessions each week for four weeks. The first hour of each session will consist of three 20-minute talks, while the second hour will be an open discussion.

As the 2020 R-matrix workshop on methods and applications has been postponed until 2021, we have put together a condensed online meeting via zoom for interested participants. A broad range of topics will still be covered, including both experimental and theory endeavors related to R-matrix. The online workshop will take place on Monday June 22, from 12:00 to 15:00 EST. There will be three one-hour sessions that will consist of a series of five to six short 5-minute talks, starting at the top of each hour.

The Milky Way is surrounded by dozens of ultra-faint dwarf galaxies. These systems are the remnants of the earliest galaxies, and spectroscopy of their stars thereby reveals the elements produced by chemical evolution in a primitive, self-contained environment. Previous spectroscopic studies, however, had largely been limited to stars within the core of these galaxies (~2 half-light radii) due to the sparseness of their distant stars.

Start time: 10 am

Live stream details coming soon

In this activity, we'll combine 4 common ingredients in 3 different ways to make things to play with. Then we'll explore experiments that could help us make our new toys even more stretchy or bouncy.

You will need:

• Water
• Cornstarch
• Glue
• Borax
• Something to mix in (cup, bowl, baggie)
• Something to stir with (spoon, stick, hand)

Abstract:

The fusion reaction of carbon and helium to oxygen is the key to understanding the evolution of stars and the relative abundances of both elements. The reaction rate of ¹²C(a,g)¹⁶O has to be known with an uncertainty of lower than 10% at a center-of-mass energy of 300 keV during Helium burning conditions. So far, experiments have studied the reaction down to about 1 MeV.