  Indirect methods using nucleus-nucleus reactions at high energies (here, high
energies mean $\sim$ 50 MeV/nucleon and higher) are now routinely used to
extract information of interest for nuclear astrophysics. This is of extreme
relevance as many of the nuclei involved in stellar evolution are short-lived.
Therefore, indirect methods became the focus of recent studies carried out in
major nuclear physics facilities. Among such methods, heavy ion charge exchange
is thought to be a useful tool to infer Gamow-Teller matrix elements needed to
describe electron capture rates in stars and also double beta-decay
experiments. In this short review, I provide a theoretical guidance based on a
simple reaction model for charge exchange reactions.
