Nuclear-Astrophysics Lessons from INTEGRAL

TL;DR

The paper reviews a decade of gamma-ray line measurements from cosmic sources using ESA's INTEGRAL mission, highlighting advances in understanding nuclear processes in the galaxy through high-resolution spectral data.

Contribution

It provides a comprehensive overview of recent nuclear astrophysics findings from INTEGRAL, emphasizing the importance of gamma-ray line observations in understanding cosmic nuclear phenomena.

Findings

Detection of gamma-ray lines from radioactive decays across the Galaxy

Insights into nuclear processes in interstellar medium and sources

Complementary information to atomic-line spectroscopy

Abstract

Measurements of high-energy photons from cosmic sources of nuclear radiation through ESA's INTEGRAL mission have advanced our knowledge: New data with high spectral resolution showed that characteristic gamma-ray lines from radioactive decays occur throughout the Galaxy, in its interstellar medium and from sources. Although the number of detected sources and often the significance of the astrophysical results remain modest, conclusions derived from this unique astronomical window of radiation originating from nuclear processes are important, complementing the widely-employed atomic-line based spectroscopy. We review the results and insights obtained in the past decade from gamma-ray line measurements of cosmic sources, in the context of their astrophysical questions.