On the massive star origin of [sup 26]Al in the Cygnus region.

The COMPTEL map of the 1.809 MeV line, which is attributed to the radioactive decay of [sup 26]Al, shows significant excess emission in the Cygnus region. We investigate counterparts of this emission, based on COMPTEL data accumulated over 8 years. Previous studies suggested that this flux is due to the integrated, but unresolved, nucleosynthesis from young, massive objects like Wolf Rayet (WR) stars and core collapse supernovae. Beside a static scenario of known point sources-WR stars and SNRs-we consider OB associations in a dynamic scenario to model the observed flux in the Cygnus region. We carry out population synthesis studies to determine the time-dependent production of [sup 26]Al and also kinetic as well as radiative energy. Furthermore we consider the impact of enhanced [sup 26]Al yields probably occurring in a fraction of massive close binary systems. We compare the nucleosynthesis results of our OB association model with recent measurements in the Cygnus region. © 2000 American Institute of Physics. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]