Observation of the 60 Fe nucleosynthesis-clock isotope in galactic cosmic rays | Zendy

W. R. Binns | Zendy; M. H. Israel | Zendy; E. R. Christian | Zendy; A. C. Cummings | Zendy; G. A. de Nolfo | Zendy; K. A. Lave | Zendy; R. A. Leske | Zendy; R. A. Mewaldt | Zendy; E. C. Stone | Zendy; T. T. von Rosenvinge | Zendy; M. E. Wiedenbeck | Zendy

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Observation of the ⁶⁰ Fe nucleosynthesis-clock isotope in galactic cosmic rays

Author(s) -

W. R. Binns,

M. H. Israel,

E. R. Christian,

A. C. Cummings,

G. A. de Nolfo,

K. A. Lave,

R. A. Leske,

R. A. Mewaldt,

E. C. Stone,

T. T. von Rosenvinge,

M. E. Wiedenbeck

Publication year - 2016

Publication title -

science

Language(s) - English

Resource type - Journals

SCImago Journal Rank - 12.556

H-Index - 1186

eISSN - 1095-9203

pISSN - 0036-8075

DOI - 10.1126/science.aad6004

Subject(s) - cosmic ray , nucleosynthesis , physics , supernova , isotope , cosmic ray spallation , astrophysics , radioactive decay , astronomy , nuclear physics , ultra high energy cosmic ray

Iron-60 ((60)Fe) is a radioactive isotope in cosmic rays that serves as a clock to infer an upper limit on the time between nucleosynthesis and acceleration. We have used the ACE-CRIS instrument to collect 3.55 × 10(5) iron nuclei, with energies ~195 to ~500 mega-electron volts per nucleon, of which we identify 15 (60)Fe nuclei. The (60)Fe/(56)Fe source ratio is (7.5 ± 2.9) × 10(-5) The detection of supernova-produced (60)Fe in cosmic rays implies that the time required for acceleration and transport to Earth does not greatly exceed the (60)Fe half-life of 2.6 million years and that the (60)Fe source distance does not greatly exceed the distance cosmic rays can diffuse over this time, ⪍1 kiloparsec. A natural place for (60)Fe origin is in nearby clusters of massive stars.

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