The radiative capture reaction involving heavy ions is a relatively unexplored reaction mechanism which affords the possibility of gaining insights into molecular structure in nuclei and exotic, highly‐deformed nuclear shapes. The12C(12C,&ggr;) reaction has been studied using an unconventional application of gamma‐ray spectroscopy using the Gammasphere array. A resonance for this reaction has been located for Ebeam=15.8 MeV. Favored population of the K=2 rotational band in24Mg as well as particular states around 10 MeV in excitation is observed. Using a Monte Carlo simulation of the previously uncharacterised high energy efficiency of Gammasphere, we set a lower limit on the cross‐section for the species of decays observed of 1&mgr;b. © 2003 American Institute of Physics