Radioactive 26Al from massive stars in the Galaxy

Roland Diehl (), Hubert Halloin, Karsten Kretschmer, Giselher G. Lichti, Volker Schönfelder, Andrew W. Strong, Andreas von Kienlin, Wei Wang, Pierre Jean, Jürgen Knödlseder, Jean-Pierre Roques, Georg Weidenspointner, Stephane Schanne, Dieter H. Hartmann, Christoph Winkler and Cornelia Wunderer
Additional contact information
Roland Diehl: Max-Planck-Institut für extraterrestrische Physik
Hubert Halloin: Max-Planck-Institut für extraterrestrische Physik
Karsten Kretschmer: Max-Planck-Institut für extraterrestrische Physik
Giselher G. Lichti: Max-Planck-Institut für extraterrestrische Physik
Volker Schönfelder: Max-Planck-Institut für extraterrestrische Physik
Andrew W. Strong: Max-Planck-Institut für extraterrestrische Physik
Andreas von Kienlin: Max-Planck-Institut für extraterrestrische Physik
Wei Wang: Max-Planck-Institut für extraterrestrische Physik
Pierre Jean: Centre d'Etude Spatiale des Rayonnements and Université Paul Sabatier
Jürgen Knödlseder: Centre d'Etude Spatiale des Rayonnements and Université Paul Sabatier
Jean-Pierre Roques: Centre d'Etude Spatiale des Rayonnements and Université Paul Sabatier
Georg Weidenspointner: Centre d'Etude Spatiale des Rayonnements and Université Paul Sabatier
Stephane Schanne: DSM/DAPNIA/Service d'Astrophysique, CEA Saclay
Dieter H. Hartmann: Clemson University
Christoph Winkler: ESA/ESTEC, SCI-SD
Cornelia Wunderer: Space Sciences Laboratory

Nature, 2006, vol. 439, issue 7072, 45-47

Abstract: Galactic elements The radioactive isotope aluminium-26 has a short half-life of about 720,000 years, so the fact that we can detect γ-rays characteristic of 26Al is a good indication that nucleosynthesis — the production of new atomic nuclei — is taking place in our Galaxy during the current epoch. Now a γ-ray survey by ESA's INTEGRAL space telescope has provided data of sufficiently high resolution to settle a long-running debate about where this nucleosynthesis takes place. The key finding is that the 26Al sources co-rotate with the Galaxy, supporting an origin from massive stars scattered throughout the Galaxy, rather than in localized star-forming regions.

Date: 2006
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DOI: 10.1038/nature04364

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