Astrophysics with Radioactive Atomic Nuclei

TL;DR

This paper advocates for developing astrophysics through radioactive atomic nuclei emissions, offering a new way to study the universe's hot, tenuous interstellar medium and the lifecycle of massive stars via gamma-ray observations.

Contribution

It introduces the concept of using radioactive gamma-ray emissions as a novel astronomical tool to probe otherwise inaccessible regions and processes in the universe.

Findings

Radioactive gamma-rays trace hot, tenuous phases of the ISM.

Decay of isotopes reveals timescales of stellar and supernova processes.

This method complements traditional astronomical observations.

Abstract

We propose to advance investigations of electromagnetic radiation originating in atomic nuclei beyond its current infancy to a true astronomy. This nuclear emission is independent from conditions of gas, thus complements more traditional stronomical methods used to probe the nearby universe. Radioactive gamma-rays arise from isotopes which are made in specific locations inside massive stars, their decay in interstellar space traces an otherwise not directly observable hot and tenuous phase of the ISM, which is crucial for feedback from massive stars. Its intrinsic clocks can measure characteristic times of processes within the ISM. Frontier questions that can be addressed with studies in this field are the complex interiors of massive stars and supernovae which are key agents in galactic dynamics and chemical evolution, the history of star-forming and supernova activity affecting our solar-system environment, and explorations of occulted and inaccessible regions of young stellar nurseries in our Galaxy.