Archive · 6 Jun 2025
Heaviest Proton Emitter Astatine-188 Detected and Measured
Scientists have discovered a rare event in the world of atoms!
They found a super heavy form of astatine, a type of atom, that spits out a tiny piece called a proton.
This is like a tiny ball shooting out of a really heavy ball.
It's super tricky to do these experiments because the atom only exists for a tiny fraction of a second.
Researchers at the University of Jyväskylä in Finland, along with collaborators, used special tools to spot this rare happening.
They also used math to help understand what was going on.
When the astatine atom shoots out the proton, it becomes another atom called polonium, and eventually turns into a stable atom.
This discovery helps scientists learn more about how atoms work.
Researchers detected and measured the half-life of the astatine-188 isotope.
Astatine-188 decays by emitting a proton, a rare process.
The half-life of astatine-188 was measured to be 190 microseconds.
The experiment involved irradiating a silver target with a strontium ion beam.
Theoretical calculations helped ascertain the proton emission.
- Who
- Researchers from the University of Jyväskylä, Finland, along with an international collaboration, including IIT Roorkee.
- What
- Detection and measurement of the heaviest proton emitter, the astatine-188 isotope.
- When
- Published June 5, 2025; the half-life of astatine-188 was measured.
- Where
- University of Jyväskylä, Finland.
- Why
- To understand the behavior of proton-rich nuclei and the rare process of proton emission.
- Isotope Discovered
- Astatine-188 (188At)
- Half-life
- 190 microseconds
- Detection Location
- University of Jyväskylä, Finland
- Detection Method
- Fusion-evaporation reaction with a silver target
- Resulting Isotope
- Polonium-187 (187Po)
- Theoretical Calculations
- IIT Roorkee, India, in collaboration with Universidade de Lisboa