BEPPOSAX DETECTION OF THE FE-K LINE IN THE NEARBY STARBURST GALAXY NGC-253

We present BeppoSAX results on the near-by star burst galaxy NGC 253. Although extended, a large fraction of the X-ray emission comes from t he nuclear region. Preliminary analysis of the LECS/MECS/PDS similar t o 0.2-60 keV data from the central 4' region indicates that the contin uum is well fitted by two thermal models: a ''soft'' component with kT similar to 0.9 keV, and a ''hard'' component with kT similar to 6 keV absorbed by a column density of similar to 1.2 x 10(22) cm(-2). For t he first time in this object, the Fe K line at 6.7 keV is detected, wi th an equivalent width of similar to 300 eV. This detection, together with the shape of the 2-60 keV continuum, implies that most of the har d X-ray emission is thermal in origin, and constrains the iron abundan ces of this component to be similar to 0.25 of solar. Other lines clea rly detected are Si, S and Fe L/Ne, in agreement with previous ASCA re sults. We discuss our results in the context of the starburst-driven g alactic superwind model.