A ROSAT view of the soft x-ray background

Conference · Wed Jan 01 04:00:00 EST 1992 · American Astronomical Society, Bulletin; (United States)

OSTI ID:6885052

Wang, Q

An extensive study of the soft X-ray background has been carried out with observations from the ROSAT X-ray satellite. Detailed fluctuation and spectral analyses have shown that the background in the 0.5 - 2 keV band can be decomposed into two components with distinctly different origins (point-like vs diffuse) and spectral properties. We find that although [approximately] 90% of the background in the 0.9 - 2 keV band could be accounted for by discrete sources, e.g. AGNs and distant clusters of galaxies, the radiation in the 0.5 - 0.9 keV band arises primarily in a diffuse component, most likely representing the hot medium in the intergalactic space or in the halo around the Milky Way. The discrete source component is characterized by a power law of an index [approximately] 1.4 [+-] 0.3 while the diffuse component can well be represented by an optically-thin thermal plasma of the temperature [approximately] 10[sup 6.2] K. This means of measuring soft x-rays may be applied to other types of scientific research.

• OSTI ID: 6885052
• Report Number(s): CONF-930189--
• Conference Information: Journal Name: American Astronomical Society, Bulletin; (United States) Journal Volume: 24:4
• Country of Publication: United States
• Language: English

Related Subjects

440104* -- Radiation Instrumentation-- High Energy Physics Instrumentation
46 INSTRUMENTATION RELATED TO NUCLEAR SCIENCE AND TECHNOLOGY
DIAGNOSTIC USES
ELECTROMAGNETIC RADIATION
GALAXIES
INTERGALACTIC SPACE
IONIZING RADIATIONS
MILKY WAY
MONITORING
PLASMA
RADIATIONS
SATELLITES
SOFT X RADIATION
SPACE
SPECTRA
USES
X RADIATION