James Wellington Truran Jr. (born July 12, 1940, Brewster, New York[1] – March 5, 2022) was an American physicist, known for his research in nuclear astrophysics.
With the aid of a Humboldt Research Award he spent the academic year 1986–1987 at the Max Planck Institute for Astrophysics.
[3] He did important research on "novae, supernovae, nucleosynthesis, and galactic chemical evolution through the application of nuclear physics to astrophysics.
Radioactive decay of 56Ni through 56Co to 56Fe produces high-energy photons, which dominate the energy output of Type Ia supernova ejecta at intermediate to late times.
"[11] He was awarded in 2021 the Hans A. Bethe Prize for "distinguished contributions across the breadth of nuclear astrophysics, Galactic chemical evolution and cosmochronology.