biostudies-literatureUnknown14(1)Fougeres CClassical novae are thermonuclear explosions in stellar binary systems, and important sources of ²⁶Al and ²²Na. While γ rays from the decay of the former radioisotope have been observed throughout the Galaxy, ²²Na remains untraceable. Its half-life (2.6 yr) would allow the observation of its 1.275 MeV γ-ray line from a cosmic source. However, the prediction of such an observation requires good knowledge of its nucleosynthesis. The ²²Na(p, γ)²³Mg reaction remains the only source of large uncertainty about the amount of ²²Na ejected. Its rate is dominated by a single resonance on the short-lived state at 7785.0(7) keV in ²³Mg. Here, we propose a combined analysis of particle-particle correlations and velocity-differNature communications4536https://www.ebi.ac.uk/biostudies/studies/S-EPMC10480179biostudies-literatureSearch for ²²Na in novae supported by a novel method for measuring femtosecond nuclear lifetimes.PMC10480179Gonzalez VDudouet JHess HDomingo-Pardo CBoulay FMichelagnoli CCelikovic IPullia ARezynkina KBottger RLi HKaskas AMenegazzo RSaillant FMrazek JBracco ALeoni SSiciliano MLopez-Martens ADelafosse CTheisen CMillion BLjungvall JSanchis EValiente-Dobon JJGottardo ASanchez-Benitez AMBoston AJde Oliveira Santos FNapoli DRMengoni DPodolyak ZKim YHNavin AZielinska MBarrientos DLenzi SMSenyigit MNyberg JEberth JSmirnova NAFougeres CLemasson AQuintana BBemmerer DSalsac MDBenzoni GKorichi AStanoiu MUjic PReiter PRedon NCiemala MRalet DJose JGuimaraes VFulop ZGoupil JCederwall BJungclaus AClement ESohler DfalseSearch for ²²Na in novae supported by a novel method for measuring femtosecond nuclear lifetimes.Classical novae are thermonuclear explosions in stellar binary systems, and important sources of ²⁶Al and ²²Na. While γ rays from the decay of the former radioisotope have been observed throughout the Galaxy, ²²Na remains untraceable. Its half-life (2.6 yr) would allow the observation of its 1.275 MeV γ-ray line from a cosmic source. However, the prediction of such an observation requires good knowledge of its nucleosynthesis. The ²²Na(p, γ)²³Mg reaction remains the only source of large uncertainty about the amount of ²²Na ejected. Its rate is dominated by a single resonance on the short-lived state at 7785.0(7) keV in ²³Mg. Here, we propose a combined analysis of particle-particle correlations and velocity-differ2023-01-01T00:00:00Z2023 Sep2025-04-19T16:29:00.564Z2025-04-19T16:29:00.564ZS-EPMC104801793766998410.1038/s41467-023-40121-3