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Session 8 - The X-Ray Background.
Display session, Monday, January 13
Metropolitan Ballroom,

[8.03] CUBIC: the Cosmic Unresolved Background Instrument using CCDs.

D. N. Burrows, G. P. Garmire, E. I. Moskalenko, J. A. Nousek (Penn State U.), M. A. Skinner (Ball Aerospace and Tech. Corp.)

The CUBIC (Cosmic X-ray Background Instrument using CCDs) was launched on November 4, 1996 to begin a three-year mission to measure the spectrum of the Diffuse X-ray Background (DXRB). The instrument incorporates two CCDs for moderate non-dispersive spectral resolution in the bandpass 0.2 - 10.0 keV. The field of view is $6 \times 6$ degrees below 1 keV and $11 \times 11$ degrees above 3 keV. The major science goals of this instrument are improved spectra of the Galactic components of the DXRB, including both the Local Bubble emission below 0.4 keV and the galactic emission in the 0.5-1.0 keV band, and a search for faint lines or edges in the Cosmic X-ray Background spectrum above 2 keV. The mission was to have consisted of pointed observations with typical exposure times of 50,000 - 100,000 seconds. However, a failure of the Pegasus XL launch vehicle has resulted in the probable loss of this science. We describe the instrument design and calibration results and discuss possible opportunities for reflights of this instrumentation.


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The author(s) of this abstract have provided an email address for comments about the abstract: burrows@astro.psu.edu

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