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Astatine is a radio active atom that was obtained by nuclear fusion techniques.
There is probably less than 1mg of astatine in the Earth’s crust.

What the name means: The name Astatine derives from the Greek word astatos, meaning “unstable”. The –ine was used to stay in line with the names of the other Group VII elements – the halogens.

Who identified astatine? Astatine was identified in 1940 by Dale Raymond Corson, Kenneth Ross Mackenzie, and Emilio Segrè working at the Berkeley Laboratory of the University of California, USA. The team bombarded bismuth atoms with a (alpha) particles (helium nuclei).

About astatine: Astatine is a radio active element with a very short half life (around 8 hours). Using the mass spectrometer it is possible to show that astatine has properties close to those of iodine. However, astatine also shows similarities to polonium and bismuth.