title: Interstellar ^{60}Fe on the Surface of the Moon.
abstract: A dying massive star ends in a supernova explosion ejecting a large fraction of its mass into the interstellar medium. If this happens nearby, part of the ejecta might end on Solar System bodies and, in fact, radioactive ^{60}Fe has been detected on the Pacific ocean floor in about 2 Ma old layers. Here, we report on the detection of this isotope also in lunar samples, originating presumably from the same event. The concentration of the cosmic ray produced isotope ^{53}Mn, measured in the same samples, proves the supernova origin of the ^{60}Fe. From the ^{60}Fe concentrations found we deduce a reliable value for the local interstellar fluence in the range of 1×10^{8}  at/cm^{2}. Thus, we obtain constraints on the recent and nearby supernova(e).
authors.affiliation: Physik Department, Technische Universität München, D-85748 Garching, Germany.
authors.forename: L
authors.initials: L
authors.lastname: Fimiani
authors.affiliation: Department of Chemistry and Chemical Biology, Rutgers University, Piscataway, New Jersey 08854, USA.
authors.forename: D L
authors.initials: DL
authors.lastname: Cook
authors.affiliation: Physik Department, Technische Universität München, D-85748 Garching, Germany.
authors.forename: T
authors.initials: T
authors.lastname: Faestermann
authors.affiliation: Physik Department, Technische Universität München, D-85748 Garching, Germany.
authors.forename: J M
authors.initials: JM
authors.lastname: Gómez-Guzmán
authors.affiliation: Physik Department, Technische Universität München, D-85748 Garching, Germany.
authors.forename: K
authors.initials: K
authors.lastname: Hain
authors.affiliation: Department of Chemistry and Chemical Biology, Rutgers University, Piscataway, New Jersey 08854, USA.
authors.forename: G
authors.initials: G
authors.lastname: Herzog
authors.affiliation: Physik Department, Technische Universität München, D-85748 Garching, Germany.
authors.forename: K
authors.initials: K
authors.lastname: Knie
authors.affiliation: Physik Department, Technische Universität München, D-85748 Garching, Germany.
authors.forename: G
authors.initials: G
authors.lastname: Korschinek
authors.affiliation: Physik Department, Technische Universität München, D-85748 Garching, Germany.
authors.forename: P
authors.initials: P
authors.lastname: Ludwig
authors.affiliation: Department of Chemistry and Chemical Biology, Rutgers University, Piscataway, New Jersey 08854, USA.
authors.forename: J
authors.initials: J
authors.lastname: Park
authors.affiliation: Planetary Science Institute, Los Alamos, New Mexico 87544-3826, USA.
authors.forename: R C
authors.initials: RC
authors.lastname: Reedy
authors.affiliation: Physik Department, Technische Universität München, D-85748 Garching, Germany.
authors.forename: G
authors.initials: G
authors.lastname: Rugel