Breakout from the hot CNO cycle via the<mml:math xmlns:mml="http://www.w3.org/1998/Math/MathML" display="inline"><mml:mrow><mml:msup><mml:mrow/><mml:mrow><mml:mn>18</mml:mn></mml:mrow></mml:msup></mml:mrow><mml:mi mathvariant="normal">Ne</mml:mi><mml:mo>(</mml:mo><mml:mi>α</mml:mi><mml:mrow><mml:msup><mml:mrow><mml:mo>,</mml:mo><mml:mi>p</mml:mi><mml:mo>)</mml:mo></mml:mrow><mml:mrow><mml:mn>21</mml:mn></mml:mrow></mml:msup></mml:mrow><mml:mi mathvariant="normal">Na</mml:mi></mml:math>reaction

The reaction ${}^{18}\mathrm{Ne}(\ensuremath{\alpha}{,p)}^{21}\mathrm{Na},$ of importance to nuclear astrophysics, has been studied directly using the postaccelerated radioactive ${}^{18}\mathrm{Ne}$ beam available at Louvain-la-Neuve and a gaseous helium target. This study covered the energy region from 2.04 to 3.01 MeV in the center of mass, and identified various levels in the compound nucleus ${}^{22}\mathrm{Mg}.$ The stellar reaction rate due to these states has been deduced. The experimental rate shows good agreement with theoretical predictions [J. G\"orres, M. Wiescher, and F. K. Thielemann, Phys. Rev. C 51, 392 (1995)] above 2.5 GK.