• Question: Is it possable for Radioactive substances to con taminate a star?

    Asked by to Thomas on 13 Mar 2014. This question was also asked by .
    • Photo: Thomas Elias Cocolios

      Thomas Elias Cocolios answered on 13 Mar 2014:

      A start is like a giant nuclear fusion reactor where nuclear reactions happen all the time. It is filled with particle and nuclei, most of them radioactive! Part of my work is to understand the nuclear reactions that happen inside the stars. They happen so fast that the star does not care and moves on and it is always a competition between the time it takes for the next reaction to happen and the time a radioactive nuclei survives. Once you find that balance, you get to follow the path that builds up nuclei in the stars.

      As such, if you were to add extra radioactive material to the star, it would only be seen as ‘material’ as far as it was concerned.

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