Element 109, meitnerium, is a synthetic element that is not present in the environment at all. In August 1982 the first atom of the element meitnerium with atomic number 109 was detected at the Gesellschaft für Schwerionenforschung (GSI) in Darmstadt, Germany. The isotope of element 109 which was discovered has an atomic mass number of 266 (that is, 266 times heavier than hydrogen). The new element was produced by fusing an iron (58Fe) and a bismuth atom (209Bi) together in a reaction that produces a neutron. This was achieved by accelerating the iron atoms to a high energy in the heavy ion accelerator UNILAC at GSI. Lise Meitner did not share the Nobel Prize for atomic fission with Otto Hahn, as many thought she should have, but she did get the last laugh--her own element, a far less fleeting honor than a mere Nobel.