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Science 31 August 2007:
Vol. 317. no. 5842, p. 1170
DOI: 10.1126/science.1140657
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Technical Comments

Comment on "Deep Mixing of 3He: Reconciling Big Bang and Stellar Nucleosynthesis"

Dana S. Balser,1* Robert T. Rood,2 T. M. Bania3

Eggleton et al. (Reports, 8 December 2006, p. 1580) reported on a deep-mixing mechanism in low-mass stars caused by a Rayleigh-Taylor instability that destroys all of the helium isotope 3He produced during the star's lifetime. Observations of 3He in planetary nebulae, however, indicate that some stars produce prodigious amounts of 3He. This is inconsistent with the claim that all low-mass stars should destroy 3He.

1 National Radio Astronomy Observatory, 520 Edgemont Road, Charlottesville, VA 22903–2475, USA.
2 Astronomy Department, University of Virginia, Post Office Box 3818, Charlottesville, VA 22903–0818, USA.
3 Institute for Astrophysical Research, 725 Commonwealth Avenue, Boston University, Boston, MA 02215, USA.

* To whom correspondence should be addressed. E-mail: dbalser{at}nrao.edu

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Science. ISSN 0036-8075 (print), 1095-9203 (online)