Photoneutron Cross Sections of Astrophysical Significance

Presented in this paper are some of the latest measurements of photoneutron cross sections of direct relevance to the p-process nucleosynthesis in the context of the statistical model of compound nuclear reactions. We discuss the p-process origin of the rarest nuclide and the only naturally occurring isomer 180Tam, a serious underproduction problem of 138La, and the nuclear level density of 180Ta determined from the partial photoneutron cross section for 180Tam. As the laser-Compton scattering γ ray at AIST has enabled one to directly determine (γ,n) cross sections, the blackbody synchrotron radiation to be produced by a ten-Tesla superconducting wiggler at SPring-8 is expected to be a promising tool for exploring (γ,α) and (γ,p) reactions in the future