The Governing Council of the University of Toronto

Published purpose

Following the JWST ERS and Cycle 1 GO Announcement of Opportunity published on June 14, 2021, the CSA is providing funding via a Grant Agreement to the university to conduct their research using the JWST data. Approximately half of all elements heavier than iron form through rapid-neutron capture. Yet the cosmic origin of these “r-process” elements has been debated for over 60 years. In 2017, the discovery of a kilonova associated with the gravitational wave source GW170817 partially unraveled this mystery, firmly establishing that neutron star mergers do synthesize r-process elements. However, we are still uncertain whether NS mergers are the only – or even the dominant – site of r-process production. The observations will be carried out between ~30-120 days post-merger when the details of the fading light can tell us how far up the periodic table the r-process proceeded.