COMPTEL OBSERVATIONS OF THE 1.809 MEV GAMMA-RAY LINE FROM GALACTIC AL-26

The COMPTEL experiment on the Compton Gamma-Ray Observatory (CGRO) has been demonstrated to be capable of imaging the Galaxy within its fiel d of view of about 1 steradian in the 1.809 MeV gamma-ray line origina ting from radioactive Al-26. The combined data from the CGRO sky surve y in 1991/1992 have been analyzed to provide a first map of the inner Galaxy in this gamma-ray line. The 1.809 MeV emission appears extended along the inner 70-degrees of the Galactic plane, with a relatively s harp falloff outside this regime. Correlations with massive stars and supernova remnants as possible tracers of the candidate Al-26 sources are discussed.