Black Hills researchers resume mile-deep, star-making experiments

Stellar furnace experiment CASPAR accelerator at Sanford Underground Research Facility probes element creation

Dan Robertson a research professor at the University of Notre Dame is the technical coordinator for CASPAR, and one of the principal investigators on the project. Here Robertson looks at the plasma container for CASPAR where the beam originates. (Courtesy of Matthew Kapust)

Astrophysicists believe the universe began with hydrogen, helium and a trace of lithium.

Every other atom — from the iron in our blood to the silicon in our cellphones — was forged in stars.

But the astonishing is still not fully understood.

That’s changing, though, thanks to work being done nearly a mile beneath the surface of the Black Hills at the Sanford Underground Research Facility (SURF). There, researchers are using a low-energy particle accelerator to mimic the furnaces inside stars and unravel the intricate processes by which we were formed.

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