Spectroscopic Study on Ca Using the Ca(d,t)Ca Reaction for Classical Nova Endpoint Nucleosynthesis

In classical novae simulations, the uncertainty in the reaction rate of $$^{ 38 }$$K(p,$$\gamma $$) has been shown to affect the abundances of endpoint nuclides significantly. To better understand the reaction rate, we have done a spectroscopic study on $$^{ 39 }$$Ca. The reaction $$^{ 40 }$$Ca(d,t)$$^{ 39 }$$Ca at a beam energy of 22 MeV was used to populate excited states of $$^{ 39 }$$Ca. Tritons were momentum analyzed using a high resolution quadrupole-dipole-dipole-dipole (Q3D) magnetic spectrograph at 4 angles. Preliminary resonance energies for $$^{ 39 }$$Ca within the energetic region of interest for classical novae - 6.0–6.4 MeV - were determined.