Electron-Capture on Excited States of pf-shell Nuclei in Stellar Environments*

At stellar temperatures and densities electron-capture rates on ground and excited states of pf-shell nuclei can influence the dynamics of core-collapse and thermonuclear supernovae. For 13 pf-shell nuclei, we have completed a comparison between Gamow-Teller strength distributions and the corresponding electron-capture rates determined from measurements and those determined from shell model and QRPA calculations. Both of these measured and calculated electron-capture rates assumed that the parent nuclei were in the ground state. We now explore the effect that including excited states has on the calculated electron-capture rates and present preliminary results.