Moscovium · element 115
Element 115 was a UFO conspiracy theory and a video game power source long before it was made in Dubna
Key facts
Few elements arrived with a reputation already attached. In 1989 a man named Bob Lazar claimed that a stable element 115 powered alien spacecraft at a secret base in Nevada, and the story spread through UFO culture and later the Call of Duty video games. The real element 115, made at Dubna in 2003, lasts less than a second and powers nothing. Real physics proved less convenient than fiction.
The element is named moscovium after Moscow Oblast, the region surrounding the Russian capital in which Dubna lies. It sits under bismuth in group 15, and it has done more than most superheavy elements to confirm the existence of its neighbours, because its decay chains run through nihonium, roentgenium, meitnerium and bohrium before ending in dubnium.
Where it is found
Moscovium does not exist in nature and could not, because none of its isotopes lasts more than about a second. Every atom has been made in an accelerator. The total is probably somewhat over a hundred, which makes moscovium relatively plentiful by superheavy standards, since the reaction that produces it works better than most.
That reaction fires calcium-48 nuclei at a target of americium-243. Americium is itself synthetic, harvested from nuclear reactor fuel, so making moscovium means starting with one artificial element to build another. The fused nucleus sheds three or four neutrons to give moscovium-287 or 288. A typical run lasts weeks and produces a handful of atoms, each detected only through the alpha particles it emits.
How it was discovered
Yuri Oganessian's team at Dubna, collaborating with Lawrence Livermore in California, ran the americium and calcium reaction in the summer of 2003 and announced four atoms of moscovium the following February. Each decayed through a cascade of alpha emissions to dubnium. The team later performed chemistry on the dubnium at the end of the chain, separating it as a group 5 element, the first time chemistry had helped confirm a superheavy discovery.
Independent confirmation came from a Lund University team working at GSI in 2013 and from Berkeley in 2015. IUPAC recognised the discovery in December 2015, and the name moscovium, symbol Mc, was approved in November 2016 alongside nihonium, tennessine and oganesson. The choice honoured the region rather than the city, since Dubna lies over a hundred kilometres north of Moscow.
What we use it for
Moscovium has no uses, despite what video games suggest. Its atoms live for fractions of a second and are made a few at a time. No chemistry has been performed on it directly, although its dubnium descendants have been studied.
Its scientific role is as a generator of lighter superheavy isotopes. A single moscovium-288 nucleus decays through nihonium-284, roentgenium-280, meitnerium-276 and bohrium-272 before reaching dubnium-268, which survives for about a day. One fusion event therefore gives physicists five elements to study, and its nihonium is what chemists have used for early experiments on element 113. Relativity should make moscovium's 7s electrons and one pair of 7p electrons very stable, leaving a preference for +1, so it may resemble thallium more than bismuth.
Reading the numbers
The atomic mass of 289 is one of the longest-lived isotopes. Everything else is predicted. A melting point around 670 kelvin, roughly 400 degrees Celsius, and a boiling point near 1400 kelvin, about 1130 degrees Celsius, would place moscovium among the soft, low-melting heavy metals. The predicted density of about 13.5 grams per cubic centimetre is above bismuth's 9.8. None of these has been measured, because there has never been enough moscovium to see.
The configuration [Rn] 5f14 6d10 7s2 7p3 gives three electrons in the 7p shell, which places moscovium in group 15 with nitrogen, phosphorus, arsenic, antimony and bismuth. Those elements normally show +3 and +5 states. For moscovium, calculations suggest +1 will dominate, +3 will be rare and +5 in effect impossible. That is a clear prediction of relativistic chemistry, and it is untested.
Safety and the environment
Moscovium is radioactive and extremely short-lived, with half-lives well under a second. It cannot be collected, stored or released. The atoms ever made were produced inside shielded accelerators and identified only through their decay. There is no moscovium in the environment, and claims of stable element 115 in anyone's hands have no basis in physics.
Did you know?
- In 1989 Bob Lazar claimed a stable element 115 fuelled alien craft; the real moscovium decays in a fraction of a second.
- A single moscovium-288 atom decays through five other elements before reaching dubnium-268, giving physicists five isotopes from one event.
- The 2003 discovery was strengthened by performing chemistry on the dubnium at the end of the decay chain, the first time chemistry helped confirm a superheavy element.
- Moscovium's target, americium-243, is itself an artificial element extracted from used reactor fuel.
- Moscovium is named after Moscow Oblast, the region around the Russian capital, not the city itself; Dubna lies over a hundred kilometres to the north.
More in the superheavy elements
The nearest neighbours of moscovium in the family, by atomic number.
See all 15 superheavy elements on one page, or browse all 118 elements. Also listed under the post-transition metals.
Frequently asked questions
Is element 115 real?
Yes. Moscovium, element 115, was first made at Dubna in Russia in 2003 and officially named in 2016. It is highly radioactive and its isotopes decay in under a second, so the stable element 115 described in UFO stories does not exist.
Who discovered moscovium?
A collaboration between the Joint Institute for Nuclear Research in Dubna and Lawrence Livermore National Laboratory in the United States. They produced four atoms in 2003 by firing calcium-48 at americium-243. The discovery was confirmed by other laboratories and recognised by IUPAC in 2015.
What is the half-life of moscovium?
Very short. Moscovium-288 lasts about a fifth of a second and moscovium-290, the longest-lived known, under a second. Each decays by emitting an alpha particle to become nihonium.
Why is it called moscovium?
The name honours Moscow Oblast, the region of Russia where the Dubna laboratory is located. It was proposed by the discoverers and approved by IUPAC in November 2016.
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Written by Anthony. Updated September 2026. Numerical data from Periodic-Table-JSON (CC BY-SA), cross-checked against the Moscovium reference article. Spotted an error? Tell us.