Astronuc
Jul27-08, 01:39 PM
I just happened to stumble across this bit of research and thought it might be of interest to folks.
This week, astronomer Nick Sterling of NASA’s Goddard Spaceflight Center will be using the 2.7-meter Harlan J. Smith Telescope to search for krypton, selenium, and other neutron-capture elements by studying the light from several planetary nebulae, which are the remnants of Sun-like stars.
He will be building on his previous work in this area also done at McDonald Observatory with University of Texas professor Harriet Dinerstein. This time, Nick and Harriet are also working with Seth Redfield, a Hubble Space Telescope post-doctoral researcher at McDonald Observatory.
. . . .
Nick will use spectroscopy, a technique that looks for patterns in light emitted from the planetary nebula that correspond to the spectral signatures of these elements, to determine their amounts.
In addition, Nick will also determine the amounts of xenon, which is even heavier element than selenium or krypton, and can be used to infer the rate in which neutrons are available to create these neutron-capture elements. That, in turn, will help astronomers learn how and where neutron-capture elements form.
http://mcdonaldobservatory.org/research/projects/project.php?p_id=383
This week, astronomer Nick Sterling of NASA’s Goddard Spaceflight Center will be using the 2.7-meter Harlan J. Smith Telescope to search for krypton, selenium, and other neutron-capture elements by studying the light from several planetary nebulae, which are the remnants of Sun-like stars.
He will be building on his previous work in this area also done at McDonald Observatory with University of Texas professor Harriet Dinerstein. This time, Nick and Harriet are also working with Seth Redfield, a Hubble Space Telescope post-doctoral researcher at McDonald Observatory.
. . . .
Nick will use spectroscopy, a technique that looks for patterns in light emitted from the planetary nebula that correspond to the spectral signatures of these elements, to determine their amounts.
In addition, Nick will also determine the amounts of xenon, which is even heavier element than selenium or krypton, and can be used to infer the rate in which neutrons are available to create these neutron-capture elements. That, in turn, will help astronomers learn how and where neutron-capture elements form.
http://mcdonaldobservatory.org/research/projects/project.php?p_id=383