Long-lived radio-isotopes: Unique signatures of close-by supernovae in the past

The experiments searching in solar system bodies for freshly produced radionuclides from outside the solar system are reviewed, with a special focus on accelerator mass spectrometry. A surplus of 60Fe has been found at eight locations in terrestrial oceans as well as in lunar samples. This surplus i...

Full description

Saved in:
Bibliographic Details
Published in:Nuclear instruments & methods in physics research. Section B, Beam interactions with materials and atoms Beam interactions with materials and atoms, 2019-01, Vol.438, p.148-155
Main Authors: Korschinek, Gunther, Faestermann, Thomas
Format: Article
Language:English
Subjects:
AMS
Long-lived radio-isotopes
Supernova
Citations: Items that this one cites
Items that cite this one
Online Access:Get full text
Tags: Add Tag
No Tags, Be the first to tag this record!
Description
Summary:The experiments searching in solar system bodies for freshly produced radionuclides from outside the solar system are reviewed, with a special focus on accelerator mass spectrometry. A surplus of 60Fe has been found at eight locations in terrestrial oceans as well as in lunar samples. This surplus is attributed to supernova activity within 300 light years from the Sun about 1.5 to 3.0 Ma ago. An intensive search for the r-process nuclide 244Pu in deep-ocean material yielded an upper limit far below the expectation if it were produced exclusively by core-collapse supernovae. Thus, a much less frequent stellar event than core-collapse supernovae must be the site where the heaviest nuclides are produced.
ISSN:0168-583X
1872-9584
DOI:10.1016/j.nimb.2018.05.034