For millennia, mankind has been fascinated by the marvel of the starry night sky. Yet, a proper scientific understanding of how stars form, shine, and die is a relatively recent achievement, made possible by the interplay of different disciplines as well as by significant technological, theoretical, and observational progress. We now know that stars are sustained by nuclear fusion reactions and are the furnaces where all chemical elements continue to be forged out of primordial hydrogen and helium. Studying these reactions in terrestrial laboratories presents serious challenges and often requires developing ingenious instrumentation and detection techniques. Here, we reveal how some of the major breakthroughs in our quest to unveil the inner workings of stars have come from the most unexpected of places: deep underground. As we celebrate 30 years of activity at the first underground laboratory for nuclear astrophysics, LUNA, we review some of the key milestones and anticipate future opportunities for further advances both at LUNA and at other underground laboratories worldwide.

中文翻译：

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探索地下实验室的恒星：挑战与解决方案


几千年来，人类一直着迷于夜空中繁星点点的奇观。然而，对恒星如何形成、发光和死亡的正确科学理解是一项相对较新的成就，它是通过不同学科的相互作用以及重大的技术、理论和观测进步而得以实现的。我们现在知道，恒星是通过核聚变反应维持的，并且是所有化学元素继续从原始氢和氦中锻造出来的熔炉。在陆地实验室研究这些反应提出了严峻的挑战，通常需要开发巧妙的仪器和检测技术。在这里，我们揭示了我们在探索恒星内部运作过程中的一些重大突破是如何来自最意想不到的地方：地下深处。在我们庆祝第一个核天体物理地下实验室 LUNA 成立 30 周年之际，我们回顾了一些关键里程碑，并展望了 LUNA 和全球其他地下实验室进一步发展的未来机会。