COMPTEL limits on Al-26 1.809 MeV line emission from gamma(2) Velorum

The Wolf-Rayet binary system gamma(2) Vel (WR 11) is the closest known Wolf -Rayet (WR) star. Recently, its distance has been redetermined by parallax measurements with the HIPPARCOS astrometric satellite yielding 258(-31)(+41 ): pc, significantly lower than previous estimates (300 - 450 pc). Wolf-Ray et stars have been proposed as a major source of the Galactic Al-26 observe d at 1.809 MeV. The gamma-ray telescope COMPTEL has previously reported 1.8 MeV emission from the Vela region, yet located closer to the Galactic plan e than the position of gamma(2) Vel. We derive an upper 1.8 MeV flux limit of 1.1 10(-5) gamma cm(-2) s(-1) (2 sigma) for the WR star. With the new di stance estimate, COMPTEL measurements place a limit of (6.3(-1.4)(+2.1)) 10 (-5) M. on the Al-26 yield of gamma(2) Vel, thus constrains theories of nuc leosynthesis in Wolf-Rayet stars. We discuss the implications in the contex t of the binary nature of gamma(2) Vel and present a new interpretation of the IRAS Vela shell.