EXCITATION OF THE 2.65-MEV STATE IN THE NE-20(P,N)NA-20 REACTION AT 135-MEV

The Ne-20(p,n)Na-20 reaction at 135 MeV was studied experimentally usi ng the beam-swinger neutron time-of-flight facility at the Indiana Uni versity Cyclotron Facility. Backgrounds similar to 10X lower than an e arlier experiment were obtained using the ''stripper loop'' storage ri ng to achieve similar to 2 mu s between beam bursts. We were able to s ee a weakly excited state at 2.65 MeV in Na-20 with a Delta l=2 angula r distribution. The angular distribution is consistent with a DWIA cal culation assuming a 3(+) final state. The characteristics of this stat e are important to know for considerations of possible breakout in the hot CNO cycle in supernovae explosions.