26Al emission throughout the Galaxy

Gamma-rays from decay of Al-26 have established that nucleosynthesis is currently ongoing in the Galaxy and that nuclear reactions inside massive stars and their supernovae are the prime origins of this isotope, which is rather short-lived compared to time scales of Galactic evolution. The high-resolution spectrometer 'SPI' on INTEGRAL is carrying out a survey of the Galactic plane in Al-26 gamma-rays, aiming to add spectroscopic details which constrain the kinematics of decaying Al-26 nuclei. First results have shown the Galaxy-integrated gamma-ray line to be narrow and compatible with expected ISM velocities at or below 100 km/s. More exposure will allow increasingly more localized and spatially-resolved studies. Line centroid shifts in the inner Galaxy have been found to be consistent with the large-scale Galactic rotation. Here we add first results from spatially-resolved Al-26 line spectroscopy along the Galactic plane. (C) 2008 Published by Elsevier B.V.