This element was discovered by von Reichenstein in 1783 in Romania. Its name comes from tellus (earth).
Ionization energies
TeI 9.0 eV, TelI 18.7 eV, TeIII 28.0 eV.
No Te lines have been observed in the sun.
Behavior in stars
Hartoog et al. (1973), Cowley et al. (1974) and Poli et al. (1987) found
TeII in three Ap stars.
Isotopes
Te has eight stable isotopes, namely Te 120, 122, 123, 124, 125, 126,
128 and
130, as well as 21 short-lived isotopes and isomers. The respective
frequencies of the stable isotopes in the solar system are 0.1%, 3%,
1%, 5%, 7%, 19%, 31% and 34%.
Origin
Te120 is a pure p process product, Te 122, 123 and 124 are s
process products. Te128 and Te130 can only be
produced by the r process and Tel25 and Te126 can
be produced by either the r process or the s process.
Published in "The Behavior of Chemical Elements in Stars", Carlos Jaschek and Mercedes Jaschek, 1995, Cambridge University Press.