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Detection of high-velocity 26AI towards the Galactic Centre

Nature volume 384, pages 44–46 (1996)Cite this article

Abstract

THEORY predicts1 that radioactive 26A1 (which has a half-life of 0.72 Myr) is released into the interstellar medium by nova and supernova explosions, from the winds of massive stars in the Wolf–Rayet phase, and from less-massive giant stars in very late stages of the asymptotic giant branch phase. Observations of 1,809-keV γ-ray emission line from 26A1 can therefore be used as a tracer of Galactic nucleosynthesis during the past million years2,3. The irregularity of the emission in the plane of the Galaxy4–7 suggests that the dominant sources are likely to be massive stars and supernovae; the other predicted sources are older, and therefore expected to be distributed more uniformly. Here we report the detection of the 1,809-keV emission line from the direction of the Galactic Centre, and we show that the line width is approximately three times that expected8,9 from the effect of Doppler broadening due to Galactic rotation. The high velocities inferred from the line width favour an origin of the 26A1 in supernovae or Wolf–Rayet stars. Moreover, the fact that the 26A1 has maintained such high velocities is difficult to reconcile with our current understanding of the propagation of material in the interstellar medium.

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Authors and Affiliations

  1. NASA/Goddard Space Flight Center, Greenbelt, Maryland, 20771, USA

    Juan E. Naya, Scott D. Barthelmy, Neil Gehrels, Ann Parsons, Bonnard J. Teegarden & Jack Tueller

  2. Universities Space Research Association, 7501 Forbes Boulevard no. 206, Seabrook, Maryland, 20706-2253, USA

    Juan E. Naya & Scott D. Barthelmy

  3. Code 718, NASA/GSFC, Greenbelt, Maryland, 20771, USA

    Lyle M. Bartlett

  4. Department of Astronomy, University of Maryland, College Park, Maryland, 20742-2421, USA

    Marvin Leventhal

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Naya, J., Barthelmy, S., Bartlett, L. et al. Detection of high-velocity 26AI towards the Galactic Centre. Nature 384, 44–46 (1996). https://doi.org/10.1038/384044a0

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