Light - cosmic messages from the past

¹ University of Notre Dame and JINA – Notre Dame, IN 46556, USA
² GSI Helmholtzzentrum fu¨ r Schwerionenforschung und Technische Universit¨ at Darmstadt – Darmstadt, Germany

Abstract

The universe is filled with electromagnetic radiation, and visible light covers only a small section of its spectrum. The dominant sources of light are stars, with the energy originating from nuclear fusion processes in their interior. The question of energy generation in our sun and in other stars is the main focus of nuclear astrophysics.