NASA Logo

NTRS

NTRS - NASA Technical Reports Server

Back to Results
A deep image of the diffuse soft X-ray background at the Galactic planeA deep Einstein IPC image of the Galactic plane provides important information about the Galactic diffuse X-ray background. Free from contamination by sources with fluxes greater than about 4 x 10 exp -14 ergs/sq cm s and by X-rays from beyond the Galactic plane, the intensity and spectrum of the background at the Galactic plane are measured for the first time in the 0.16-3.5 keV band. The spectrum can be characterized by a thermal hot gas model with a temperature of about 4,000,000 K, and the M-band Galactic flux is about 3 x 10 exp -8 ergs/sq cm s sr. This background is enhanced in the M band at the Galactic plane, but it is keV regime. If discrete sources are to be responsible for the background, their surface density must be much greater than one source per resolution element of the IPC (i.e., about 0.4 sources/sq arcmin) because of the lack of a correlation among observed X-ray on scales comparable to the instrument resolution. This density constraint, together with a model study of the Galactic emission, leads to the conclusion that no known stellar population could be responsible for the bulk of the emission.
Document ID
19920061091
Acquisition Source
Legacy CDMS
Document Type
Reprint (Version printed in journal)
External Source(s)
Authors
Wang, Qingde
(Joint Institute for Laboratory Astrophysics Boulder, CO, United States)
Date Acquired
August 15, 2013
Publication Date
June 20, 1992
Publication Information
Publication: Astrophysical Journal, Part 1
Volume: 392
Issue: 2, Ju
ISSN: 0004-637X
Subject Category
Astrophysics
Accession Number
92A43715
Distribution Limits
Public
Copyright
Other

Available Downloads

There are no available downloads for this record.
No Preview Available