Two experimental approaches in nuclear astrophysics using neutrons

High resolution measurements using the (3He,n) reaction are used to determine excitation energies of astrophysically important states. Further, spins can be assigned to these states by comparing the measured differential cross sections to Hauser-Feshbach cross sections. The astrophysical reaction rates are then calculated using the experimental values. Reference [1] is an example of such measurements.Absolute values of the astrophysical S factors and cross sections are calculated from measurements using the (d,n) reaction at low incident energies. Reference [2] is an example of such measurements.