Hydrogen burning of O17 in classical novae

We report on the observation of a previously unknown resonance at ERlab=194.1±0.6keV in the O17(p,α)N14 reaction, with a measured resonance strength ωγpα=1.6±0.2meV. We studied in the same experiment the O17(p,γ)F18 reaction by an activation method and the resonance-strength ratio was found to be ωγpα/ ωγpγ=470±50. The corresponding excitation energy in the F18 compound nucleus was determined to be 5789.8±0.3keV by γ-ray measurements using the N14(α,γ)F18 reaction. These new resonance properties have important consequences for O17 nucleosynthesis and γ-ray astronomy of classical novae. © 2005 The American Physical Society.