Across the periodic table, the majority of the elements are created at least in part in explosive stellar environments. For elements up to mass ~100, explosive nucleosynthesis often occurs through thermonuclear runaway in hydrogen- and helium-rich environments driving events such as classical novae, Type I X-ray bursts, and Type Ia Supernovae, and resulting in the production of exotic...
"Astrophysics is applied nuclear physics". This statement of Willy Fowler, the father of nuclear astrophysics, summarizes that nuclear processes are at the origin of the synthesis of the elements in the Universe and also the engine of the astrophysical objects which produce them. This includes the synthesis of the lightest elements during the Big Bang, but also the evolution of stars during...
The abundance of $^{26}$Al carries a special role in astrophysics, since it probes active nucleosynthesis in the Milky Way and constrains the Galactic core-collapse supernovae rate. It is estimated through the detection of the 1809~keV $\gamma$-line of the daughter $^{26}$Mg and from the superabundance of $^{26}$Mg in comparison with the most abundant Mg isotope (A=24) in meteorites. For this...
Elemental abundances are excellent probes of classical novae (CN). Sensitivity studies show that $^{38}$K($p$,$\gamma$)$^{39}$Ca reaction-rate uncertainties modify the abundance of calcium by a factor of 60 in CN ejecta. Existing direct [1,2] and indirect measurements [3,4] are in contradiction concerning the energies and strengths of important resonances in the $^{38}$K($p$,$\gamma$)$^{39}$Ca...
Neutron capture nucleosynthesis via s-, r- and i-process are responsible for the production of elements heavier than Fe in the Universe.
Nucleosynthesis predictions can be affected by both the free parameters of the astrophysical models, which do not allow to accurately reproduce the neutron densities in stellar environments, and the uncertainties of the nuclear physics quantities employed in...
The PANDORA (Photo-Absorption of Nuclei and Decay Observation for Reactions in Astrophysics) project focuses on the experimental and theoretical analysis of photo-nuclear reactions involving light nuclei with a mass below A = 60. This is of particular importance in the scope of ultra-high-energy cosmic ray research where the main mode of energy attenuation as it travels through the cosmos is...
The K600 magnetic spectrometer and the CAKE silicon detector array form a powerful tool for coincidence measurements in many nuclear physics measurements including nuclear astrophysics. These instruments have been used, among others, in studies measuring proton decays from $\alpha$-unbound states in $^{22}$Mg through the $^{24}$Mg$(p,t)$$^{22}$Mg reaction to study the...
