Scientists find heaviest proton emitter astatine-188

• Researchers at the University of Jyväskylä, Finland, have detected and measured the half-life of the heaviest proton emitter, the 188At isotope.

• The isotope decays by emitting a proton, defining the timescale for proton emission.

• The study was published in Nature Communications.

• The heaviest astatine nucleus, with atomic number 85, was produced in a fusionevaporation reaction by irradiating a silver target with strontium ions.

• The 188At was identified using a Recoil-Ion Transport Unit recoil separatator.

• The study was conducted using theoretical calculations, which helped determine the shape of the astatine nucleus to be strongly prolate.