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Reaction atlas · CNO cycles

Particle-exchange reaction · CNO-III

18O(p,α)15N

: oxygen‑18 + proton → nitrogen‑15 + helium‑4How to read the notation

ImprovingMeasured at LUNA
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Oxygen-18 captures a proton and splits into nitrogen-15 and a helium nucleus. It closes the third CNO cycle and destroys oxygen-18.

This reaction removes oxygen-18 in hydrogen-burning layers, and so it shapes the oxygen isotope ratios that astronomers measure in giant stars and in grains of stardust. The nitrogen-15 it produces is also a step on the way to fluorine in AGB stars, where nitrogen-15 can capture a helium nucleus.

Facts

How well known
Measured directly down to low energies; a resonance that matters in the coolest environments is known only from an indirect method.
Live evaluation
No live evaluation yet · Evaluations
Reaction rates
Explore the rates →
Q-value · energy released
3.980 MeV
Gamow window
  • 65 ± 19 keVAGB star, 50 MK (CNO-III)
  • 165 ± 61 keVclassical nova, 0.2 GK (CNO-III)
Kind
Particle-exchange reaction

How it was measured

3 measurements, 2008–2019, 2 at LUNAShow the list
  1. 2008

    Trojan Horse method · 20 and 90 keV resonances

    First experimental evaluation of the 20 keV resonance, whose contribution came out about 35% larger than previously estimated; the 90 keV resonance appeared negligible. The rate accuracy improved by a factor of 8.5 because it rests on a measured strength. [1]

  2. 2015

    LUNA 400 kVLaboratori Nazionali del Gran Sasso (INFN)

    Direct measurement underground · Ep = 151 keV resonance

    Commissioning of a silicon-detector setup for α particles underground: ωγ = 164.2 ± 0.9 (stat) +12.1/−11.7 (syst) meV and a new resonance energy Ep = 151.2 ± 0.3 keV. [2]

  3. 2019

    LUNA 400 kVLaboratori Nazionali del Gran Sasso (INFN)

    Direct measurement underground · 55–340 keV

    Cross section measured down to 55 keV, the lowest energy so far. The 90 keV resonance is a factor of 10 stronger than previously reported; the multichannel R-matrix rate is more precise than earlier evaluations between 0.01 and 1 GK. [3]

Measurements (EXFOR)

Every dataset EXFOR holds for this reaction, drawn by the energies it covers, against the energies a star uses.

47 datasets in 17 EXFOR entries, 1956–2015 · 2 without an energy range, not drawn

Temperature
Lowest energy in EXFOR
143 keV
Bruno et al., 2015 · ωγ · O2275.002 Not yet in EXFOR: LUNA 400 kV (2019), 55–340 keV.
Distance from the Gamow peak
2 Gamow widths above
E₀ = 65.2 keV, window 45.9–84.6 keV
Rate from energies not in EXFOR
> 99.99%
at T₉ = 0.05, smooth estimate · > 99.99% of it lies below the lowest energy in EXFOR
10 keV100 keV1 MeV10 MeV100 MeVCentre-of-mass energy (keV)E₀ = 65.2 keVσSσ→Eₓdσ/dΩYωγotherlowest in EXFOR 143 keV
  • Gamow window, hatched where no measurement reaches
  • Outlined bars are shown but not counted (the rule is under “How these numbers are made”).
  • A diamond is a dataset at a single energy. Bars running off the right edge continue to higher energies.
The datasets of the gap map, by quantity
The datasets of the gap map, by quantity
QuantityDatasetsE_cm range (keV)
σcross section3223 keV – 2.8 MeV
SS-factor1228 keV – 668 keV
σ→Eₓpartial1871 keV – 994 keV
dσ/dΩangular distribution3620 keV – 38.7 MeV
Yyield1184 keV – 193 keV
ωγresonance strength2143 keV – 1.83 MeV
…other1767 keV – 1.02 MeV
How these numbers are made

Lowest measured energy, everywhere in the data explorer: the lowest centre-of-mass energy at which a dataset in EXFOR measures the reaction itself (cross section, S-factor, angular distribution, yield or resonance strength), judged point by point. A point counts when it is a value, not an upper or lower limit, when it lies at least one standard deviation above zero, and when its energy is physical: at least 1 keV for charged particles, and not below the threshold of an endothermic reaction. Not counted: extrapolated, calculated, evaluated or derived values; superseded, deleted or preliminary data; ratios; a single S-factor value, which in EXFOR is a fit result; and indirect methods (Trojan horse, Coulomb dissociation, ANC, surrogate reactions), recognized from EXFOR's method and analysis codes, their text and the title. Frame and unit errors of EXFOR are corrected first, and values the literature shows to be upper limits are read as limits, from a list that gives the evidence for each. Datasets that reach the same energy within 0.5% are all credited, earliest first. Rate from energies not in EXFOR: the share of the rate integrand at that temperature outside the energy ranges the counted datasets cover (from their lowest measured point to their highest), with a constant S-factor (σ ∝ S(E₀)/E · e^−2πη, so the integrand is e^(−E/kT − 2πη)); for a neutron capture, σ ∝ 1/v. Resonances make the real integrand lumpy, so read it as a smooth baseline.

Details

How well known, in detail: Direct data now reach 55 keV; the 20 keV resonance, which matters at the lowest temperatures, is known only from Trojan-Horse data.

The rate at stellar temperatures is the sum of several low-energy resonances in 19F, at E = 20, 90 and 143 keV, and of non-resonant contributions from the tails of broad higher-lying states. The 20 keV resonance is far below the reach of direct measurements, and its strength comes from Trojan-Horse data. LUNA measured the cross section underground down to E = 55 keV, where it is below 1 pb/sr, and found the 90 keV resonance about ten times stronger than previously reported. A multichannel R-matrix fit of these and earlier data gives the rate between 0.01 and 1 GK.

Peak energy E0 ± half the 1/e width, centre of mass, from the AME2020 masses.

Evaluations

Compilations that combine the data into a recommended rate.

  • —B. Acharya et al., Rev. Mod. Phys. 97, 035002 (2025) [4]

Open questions

  • The strength of the 20 keV resonance, known only from Trojan-Horse data.
  • The 90 keV resonance, whose direct LUNA strength is ten times the earlier value, while the Trojan-Horse analysis found it negligible.

Related reactions

References

  1. 1.
  2. 2.
  3. 3.
  4. 4.

How to cite this page

J. Skowronski, 18O(p,α)15N, in Reaction atlas, 2026-10-12, https://jskowron.eu/atlas/18O-pa-15N.

Cite the date you used; it is the last change to this page.

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