BeppoSAXdetection of the Fe K line in the nearby starburst galaxy NGC 253

We present BeppoSAX results on the nearby star- burst galaxy NGC 253. Although extended, a large fraction of the X-ray emission comes from the nuclear region. Preliminary analysis of the LECS/MECS/PDS 0.2-60 keV data from the central 40 region indicates that the continuum is well fitted by two thermal models: a "soft" component with kT 0:9 keV, and a "hard" component with kT 6 keV absorbed by a column density of 1.2 1022 cm 2. For the first time in this object, the Fe K line at 6.7 keV is detected, with an equivalent width of 300 eV. This detection, together with the shape of the 2- 60 keV continuum, implies that most of the hard X-ray emission is thermal in origin, and constrains the iron abundances of this component to be 0.25 of solar. Other lines clearly detected are Si, S and Fe L/Ne, in agreement with previous ASCAresults. We discuss our results in the context of the starburst-driven galactic superwind model.