Project Details
The Jet Experiments for Nuclear Structure and Astrophysics (JENSA) gas jet target system enables measurements of thermonuclear reactions that drive some stars to explode in novae and X-ray bursts. JENSA sprays an ultra-dense (as high as a solid), ultra-pure, narrow (4 mm)
jet of gas through a specially shaped nozzle into a vacuum chamber perpendicular to an accelerated ion beam. The nuclear products of interactions between particles in the beam and those in the gas jet are measured in a series of detectors surrounding the jet. JENSA has many advantages over traditional solid thin-foil targets: the pure composition of the gas reduces stronger background reactions that have ruined countless of foil target measurements; the narrow size of the jet enables precise measurements of the emission angle of the reaction products; and the high density enables measurement of very weak reactions. JENSA was built and commissioned at ORNL and has now been moved to the Facility for Rare Isotope Beams (FRIB) at Michigan State University. A program of measurements are planned with JENSA to help improve our understanding of exploding stars.
Contact: Kelly Chipps (chippska@ornl.gov)
For additional information related to JENSA please visit: https://jensa.ornl.gov.
