S22B0037
S22B0037
Europium (Eu) is a heavy neutron-capture element that is produced by r-process, which takes place in exotic environments abundant in neutron. Although neutron star mergers are at least partly responsible for the production of Eu and other r-process elements, the global picture of how r-process elements are produced and enrich interstellar matter in the Universe is still unclear. Recently, Reichert et al. (2021) found three Eu-rich stars in the Fornax dwarf galaxy, including two most Eu-rich stars ever observed. This discovery shows that Fornax can synthesize r-process elements with the highest-known efficiency in the Universe, making Fornax an ideal place to understand r-process. Interestingly, the Eu-rich stars in Fornax show a highly clustered spatial distribution, which overlaps with a known stellar overdensity. The apparent concentration of Eu-rich stars suggests their coherent motion. Therefore, there may be many more Eu-rich sibling stars in their vicinity, presumably including even more highly Eu-enhanced stars. Here we propose to observe 20 stars in Fornax to find such Eu-rich stars. This is an unprecedented opportunity to discover the most r-process-enriched stars ever known. Such an extremely Eu-enhanced star would dramatically advance our understanding of r-process.
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