Experimental Challenges in Nuclear Astrophysics Original Research Article

The experimental simulation of stellar processes requires a very broad range of experimental techniques. The field has been rapidly growing over the last decade and a large number of new experimental facilities have been developed. This includes underground accelerators to shield the Cosmic ray background for sub-Coulomb barrier measurements of stellar reaction rates, neutron spallation sources for exploring neutron capture reactions for the s-process during late stellar evolution, and radioactive beam facilities for studying far of stability processes in stellar explosions. In this paper I want to present a short overview about the experimental questions and challenges these new developments pose for the experimental nuclear astrophysicist.