A soft X-ray image of the Cygnus Loop SNR

The first true X-ray image of a galactic source is presented. X-ray emission from the Cygnus Loop SNR was recorded with a rocket-borne soft X-ray imaging system having an angular resolution of approximately 10 arcmin (0.1-1.0 keV). The image suggests X-ray production arising from an asymmetrical limb-brightened shell of hot plasma, resulting from a blast wave expanding into the interstellar medium, the inherent inhomogeneity of which is indicated by spatial structure in the image, observed on scale sizes down to approximately 0.25 deg. No evidence for a central, unresolved X-ray source is found and no significant detection made of any of the unresolved radio sources which may be associated with the SNR. Significant spectral variations are observed across the image.