Abstract
Astronomy with radioactivity can be described as using the quantity of radioactivity within cosmic samples to infer their physical circumstances and history. The quantity of radioactive nuclei is inferred or measured by a variety of techniques reviewed here and in subsequent chapters. We also review the major disciplines of such knowledge in astronomy in the attempt to introduce the reader to its principles. Because the sciences of nucleosynthesis and of radioactivity have been so intertwined, brief histories of each are first given. Descriptions of recent discoveries in these disciplines are relegated to subsequent chapters where they can receive fuller treatment. The scientific disciplines of astronomy using radioactive nuclei are primarily these:
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Notes
- 1.
At that time, the half-life of 60Fe was best-known as 1.5 My.
- 2.
The mean life of 60Fe is now known as 3.8 My.
- 3.
Readers wishing familiarity with these topics can best consult later chapters of this book, or Clayton and Nittler (2004), and Astrophysical Implications of the Laboratory Study of Pre-solar Materials (Bernatowicz and Zinner 1997); the Handbook of Isotopes in the Cosmos by Clayton (2003) also presents many astrophysical consequences.
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Clayton, D.D. (2018). The Role of Radioactive Isotopes in Astrophysics. In: Diehl, R., Hartmann, D., Prantzos, N. (eds) Astrophysics with Radioactive Isotopes. Astrophysics and Space Science Library, vol 453. Springer, Cham. https://doi.org/10.1007/978-3-319-91929-4_2
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