Astrophysical Importance of the ReactionC12+O16

The nuclear reactions between ${\mathrm{C}}^{12}$ and ${\mathrm{O}}^{16}$ are shown to be vitally important during explosive oxygen burning because they regulate the number of $\alpha$ particles produced per ${\mathrm{Si}}^{28}$ nucleus. Since it appears that explosive oxygen burning produces the observed abundances of the nuclei between ${\mathrm{Si}}^{28}$ and ${\mathrm{Ca}}^{42}$, the value of the ${\mathrm{C}}^{12}$ + ${\mathrm{O}}^{16}$ total reaction cross section will help determine the nature of the explosions that have produced the elements.