Nuclear Astrophysics with Stardust
Using presolar grains as observational records of stellar nucleosynthesis, stellar physics, and Galactic chemical evolution.
Presolar grains are microscopic mineral grains older than the Sun, preserved in primitive meteorites for billions of years. Each grain condensed in the outflow of a single ancient star, capturing the isotopic signature of that star’s nuclear processes.
By measuring isotope ratios in individual grains, I constrain theoretical models of stellar physics, nucleosynthesis, and Galactic chemical evolution — testing how stars produce the elements and how those elements are stirred into the interstellar medium that eventually formed our Solar System.