Radiative capture reactions with heavy beams: extending the capabilities of DRAGON

Understanding the nucleosynthesis of stable proton-rich nuclei requires knowledge of the cross sections for both proton and alpha capture reactions. As some of the nucleosynthesis paths responsible for the production of these nuclei involve reactions on unstable isotopes, it is of particular importance to develop techniques to investigate these reactions. This requires radioactive beams and measurements in inverse kinematics, thus making recoil separators an ideal tool for direct measurements of proton and alpha capture reactions. Here, the application of the DRAGON recoil separator for measurements of capture reactions for heavy beams is presented. The performance of the separator was tested using the 58Ni(p,γ)59Cu reaction.