Oxygen-28 is the heaviest oxygen isotope ever seen

The isotopes oxygen-27 and oxygen-28 are the heaviest oxygen isotopes ever observed. However, initial experiments suggest that oxygen-28 does not possess the ‘doubly magic’ properties predicted that would confer unusual stability over other isotopes.

Studying isotopes with unusual neutron-to-proton ratios can provide researchers with unique insight into how atomic nuclei are structured. Of particular interest are nuclei that possess a ‘magic number’ of protons or neutrons, in which these nucleons are arranged into complete shells. Nuclei with closed shells of protons or neutrons tend to be particularly stable. A nucleus with a magic number of both protons and neutrons is known as doubly magic and such atoms are known to be unusually stable.