OSSE Search for $\gamma$-Ray Lines from $^{60}$Fe in the Galactic Plane

Session 65 -- The Galaxy and Galactic ISM
Oral presentation, Thursday, 2, 1994, 10:00-11:30

[65.02] OSSE Search for $\gamma$-Ray Lines from $^{60}$Fe in the Galactic Plane

M.~J.~Harris (USRA), W.~R.~Purcell, D.~A.~Grabelsky, M.~P.~Ulmer (Northwestern University), W.~N.~Johnson, R.~L.~Kinzer, J.~D.~Kurfess, M.~S.~Strickman (Naval Research Laboratory), M.~D.~Leising (Clemson University), G.~V.~Jung (USRA)

Due to its long half-life of 1.5 Myr, the isotope $^{60}$Fe is expected to accumulate in the interstellar medium, and the $\gamma$-ray lines from the decay of its daughter $^{60}$Co are expected to be emitted in a diffuse glow from the Galactic plane. We have searched for the $^{60}$Fe lines at 1.17 and 1.33 MeV in the combined OSSE spectra obtained from the central radian of the Galactic plane during the first two years of the Compton Observatory\/ mission. We will present the preliminary results of this search.

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