: Rare isotopes in our neighbouring stars provide new insights in the origin of carbon and oxygen
Tue 26 Aug 2025; Astronomers at Leiden University have detected rare isotopes of carbon and oxygen in our neighbouring stars for the first time, providing a new window to better understand the chemical evolution of the cosmos.The results are published today in the journal Nature Astronomy. IMAGE I - Artist’s impression of isotopes in a red dwarf star. Credit: Kutay Nazli IMAGE II - A small snippet of the observed spectrum of one of the nearby red dwarf stars. The strong lines of carbon-monoxide are caused by the common isotopes of carbon and oxygen (12C16O - blue). Carbon-13 is typically 100x more rate and forms the much weaker 13C16O lines (green). One can even see a small amount of oxygen-18 that forms 12C18O (in yellow). Credit: Leiden University/Ignas Snellen.
Read more Article Publ. Tue 26 Aug 2025