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Measurements of the radioactive $^{244}$Pu abundances can break thedegeneracy between high-rate/low-yield and low-rate/high-yield scenarios forthe production of heavy $r$-process elements. The first corresponds toproduction by core collapse supernovae (cc-SNe) while the latter corresponds toproduction by e.g. compact binary mergers. The estimated $^{244}$Pu abundancein the current interstellar medium inferred from deep-sea measurements (Wallneret al. 2015) is significantly lower than that corresponding Early Solar Systemabundances (Turner et al 2007). We estimate the expected median value of the$^{244}$Pu abundances and fluctuations around this value in both models. Weshow that while the current and Early Solar System abundances are naturallyexplained within the low-rate/high-yield (e.g. merger) scenario, they areincompatible with the high-rate/low-yield (cc-SNe) model. The inferred eventrate remarkably agrees with compact binary merger rates estimated from Galacticneutron star binaries and from short gamma-ray bursts. Furthermore, the ejectedmass of $r$-process elements per event agrees with both theoretical andobservational macronova/kilonova estimates.

Short-lived $^{244}$Pu Points to Compact Binary Mergers as Sites for Heavy r-process Nucleosynthesis