Understanding globular cluster pollution through nuclear reactions

Globular clusters are known to contain multiple stellar populations. The currently observed stars in globular clusters are contaminated with material from a past generation of stars but the nature of these stars is unclear. Uncertainties in nuclear reaction rates make identification of the polluters difficult. In this paper we report direct and indirect measurement of proton radiative-capture reactions on Si-30 and K-39 to constain the nature of the polluting site in globular clusters.