Neutron capture of ²⁶Mg at kT=52 keV and the resonance at E_n=68.7 keV

The neutron capture cross section of ²⁶Mg was measured relative to the known gold cross section at kT=52 keV using the fast cyclic activation technique. The experiment was performed at the Van de Graaff accelerator at the Universität Tübingen. From the new experimental result we deduce the resonance strength for the resonance at E_n=68.7 keV which is in good agreement with a direct measurement by Weigmann et al., whereas for the resonance at E_n=220 keV a discrepancy was found between the Weigmann data and our previous experiment. Finally, we calculate the Maxwellian-averaged capture cross section 〈σ〉 in the astrophysically relevant energy region from the available experimental data, and we discuss the discrepancies of 〈σ〉 between our work and a previous calculation by Weigmann et al.