Description
Nuclear astrophysics is concerned with the nuclear reactions that occur in astrophysical sites as well as explaining the observed abundance of elements. A number of reactions occur in the interior of stars and other such sites that are diÓcult to study in terrestrial laboratories. Indirect methods have been devised to extract the cross sections for these reactions. The availability of radioactive ion beams in the last few decades has also contributed signiÑcantly to our knowl edge in this respect. After a very brief introduction to the reactions in possible astrophysical processes, some representative experiments using radioactive ions will be discussed and their importance in understanding stellar structure, stellar evolution and nucleosynthesis will be highlighted.
