CRITICAL ROLE OF TE-122, TE-123, TE-124 IN S-PROCESS NUCLEOSYNTHESIS

The s-only isotopes in tellurium Te-122, Te-123, Te-124 provide a uniq ue opportunity to test s-process systematics. The neutron capture cros s section ratios sigma(Te)/sigma(Au) at astrophysical energies have re cently been determined with an uncertainty of approximately 1%. This p rovides the possibility of deriving limits for p-process contributions to these s-only isotopes. Unfortunately the absolute abundances of th e tellurium isotopes have not been measured, so that errors in the exi sting isotopic data need to be more realistically assessed. This const rains the estimates of the magnitude of the p-process contributions an d hence an investigation of s-process branching in this mass region.