The precision measurement of the 1809 keV gamma-ray line from Galactic
26Al is one of the goals of the SPI spectrometer on INTEGRAL with its Ge
detector camera. We aim for determination of the detailed shape of this
gamma-ray line, and its variation for different source regions along the plane
of the Galaxy. Data from the first part of the core program observations of the
first mission year have been inspected. A clear detection of the \Al line at
about 5--7 σ significance demonstrates that SPI will deepen \Al studies.
The line intensity is consistent with expectations from previous experiments,
and the line appears narrower than the 5.4 keV FWHM reported by GRIS, more
consistent with RHESSI's recent value. Only preliminary statements can be made
at this time, however, due to the multi-component background underlying the
signal at \about 40 times higher intensity than the signal from Galactic
26Al.Comment: 5 pages, 8 figures; accepted for publication in A&A (special INTEGRAL
volume