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M. Galeazzi, R. Almy, E. Apodaca, W. Bergmann Tiest, S. Deiker, A. Lesser, D. McCammon, W. T. Sanders (Physics Department, University of Wisconsin, Madison, WI 53706), E. Figueroa, R. L. Kelley, F. S. Porter, C. K. Stahle, A. E. Szymkowiak (NASA Goddard Space Flight Center, Greenbelt, MD 20771)
A high spectral resolution observation of the diffuse X-ray background in the energy range 30-1000 eV has been performed using an array of thirty-six cryogenic micro-calorimeters flown on a sounding rocket. The effective area of the detectors is 0.308 cm2 and a composite spectrum of ~1 steradian of the background centered at l=90o, b=+60o was obtained with a net energy resolution of ~9 eV FWHM. The target area includes bright 1/4 keV regions, but avoids Loop I and the North Polar Spur. With 100 s of on-target observation it has been possible to clearly detect lines of C VI, O VII, and O VIII with intensities of 5.4 ±2.3, 5.0 ±0.9, and 1.6 ± 0.4 photons cm2 s-1 sr-1 respectively. The oxygen lines alone account for a majority of the diffuse background observed in the ROSAT R4 band that is not due to extragalactic discrete sources. Upper limits on Fe lines appear inconsistent with normal abundances. The interpretation of the spectrum below 300 eV is still under investigation. Preliminary results on emission from the local hot bubble and an observation on the possible existence of interacting dark matter will be presented.
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The author(s) of this abstract have provided an email address for comments about the abstract: galeazzi@wisp.physics.wisc.edu