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The boron isotope ratio in the interstellar medium

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Abstract

OBSERVATIONS of the abundances of elements provide insight into their production and distribution. The production of light elements (in particular, lithium, beryllium and boron) is dominated by spallation reactions1, in which cosmic rays break apart more massive nuclei. Models2,3 suggest that the 11B/10B ratio should be about 2.5, but the observed ratio in the Solar System is about 4 (refs 4,5). This has led to the suggestion5 that the pre-solar nebula was subjected to bombardment by low-energy Galactic cosmic rays, leading to an overproduction of 11B (ref. 6). Until now, it has not been possible to measure the 11B/10B ratio in the interstellar medium, because the lines are very weak. Here we present a spectroscopic measurement of the 11B/10B ratio in the interstellar gas lying between the Earth and the star δ Scorpii, made using the Hubble Space Telescope. Our measured ratio, 3.4+1.3−0.6, is comparable to the meteoritic value5, but somewhat lower. Further measurements will be needed to establish whether the ratio reported here is characteristic of the interstellar medium in general.

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Authors and Affiliations

  1. Department of Physics and Astronomy, University of Toledo, Toledo, Ohio, 43606, USA

    S. R. Federman

  2. Department of Astronomy, University of Texas, Austin, Texas, 78712, USA

    David L. Lambert & Yaron Sheffer

  3. Department of Astronomy and Astrophysics, Villanova University, Villanova, Pennsylvania, 19085, USA

    Jason A. Cardelli

Authors
  1. S. R. Federman
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  2. David L. Lambert
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  3. Jason A. Cardelli
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  4. Yaron Sheffer
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Federman, S., Lambert, D., Cardelli, J. et al. The boron isotope ratio in the interstellar medium. Nature 381, 764–766 (1996). https://doi.org/10.1038/381764a0

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