Forty years of studying thermonuclear (type-I) bursts from accreting neutron stars have revealed a surprisingly rich spectrum of behavior. A few sources which have been studied intensively offer confirmed examples of two of the three classes of ignition predicted theoretically, and these systems serve as crucial test-cases for numerical models. However, the behavior of the majority of systems...
Since helium is the second most abundant element in the universe, there are numerous reaction rates involving $\alpha$-particles that play a crucial role in nuclear astrophysics. For instance, some ($\alpha$,p) reactions have been found to be fundamental for the understanding of X-ray bursts and the production of $^{44}$Ti in core-collapse supernovae. Furthermore, some ($\alpha$,n) reactions...
Type-I X-ray bursts occur repeatedly in binary star systems with an accreting neutron star. When the accreted material becomes hot and dense enough, thermonuclear runaway ensues, creating heavy elements via the $\alpha$p- and rp-processes. Occasionally, some of these systems undergo superbursts that are 1,000 times brighter and longer-lived than the usual Type-I X-ray burst. Superbursts likely...
Type-I X-ray bursts are among most frequent explosions in the Universe, where matter accreted on to a neutron star undergoes thermonuclear explosions. Observation of X-ray burst light curves, powered by nuclear reactions, bring stringent constraints to the prevalent models. Light curves have been shown to be sensitive to the uncertainty in $^{22}$Mg($\alpha$,p)$^{25}$Al reaction rate which...
The $^{59}$Cu(p,$\gamma)^{60}$Zn and $^{59}$Cu(p,$\alpha)^{56}$Ni reaction rates have significant impacts on the modeling of X-ray burst light curves and the composition of the burst ashes [1]. To calculate the contribution of resonant charged-particle capture to the total reaction rates, the proton, $\gamma$-ray, and $\alpha$-particle branching ratios, and lifetimes of the $^{60}$Zn...
