Massive stars and short-lived radionuclides in the Solar System

Laboratoire de Minéralogie et de Cosmochimie du Muséum (LMCM), UMR 7202, MNHN & CNRS, 57 rue Cuvier, 75005 Paris, France

e-mail: gounelle@mnhn.fr

Abstract

Short-lived radionuclides (SLRs) are radioactive elements (T_1/2 ≺ 200 Myr) which were present in the nascent solar system and are now extinct. While the initial abundance of SLRs with the longest half-lives (T_1/2 ≻ 3 Myr) is compatible with the expectations of Galactic evolution models, others have a last-minute origin. ⁷Be, ¹⁰Be, ³⁶Cl, and ⁴¹Ca probably originated within the protoplanetary disk from the irradiation of gas and dust by energetic particles accelerated by the protoSun. ²⁶Al and ⁶⁰Fe were probably synthesized by massive stars and added to interstellar gas which will eventually make up the bulk of our solar system. Identifying the detailed mechanisms of ²⁶Al and ⁶⁰Fe production and mixing will shed a light on the relationship between the Sun formation history and massive stars.