A high resolution spectrum of the diffuse soft X-ray background

• Main Author: Crowder, S Gwynne
• Format: Dissertation
• Language: English
• Published: ProQuest Dissertations & Theses 01-01-2012
• Subjects: Astronomy
• ISBN: 9781267591890; 1267591897

Galactic contributions to the diffuse X-ray background were believed to largely come from thermal emission of hot gas and models of the Galactic neighborhood within ∼ 100 pc reflected this belief. However, recent observations led to the realization that emission from charge exchange within the Solar System might produce comparable intensities to that of thermal emission. A high resolution spectrum of the diffuse X-ray background from 0.1 to 1 keV was obtained for a ∼ 1 sr region of the sky centered at l = 90°, b = +60° in May 2008 using a 36 pixel array of microcalorimeters flown on a sounding rocket. With an energy resolution of 11 eV FWHM below 1 keV, the spectrum can be used to separate charge exchange contributions originating within the heliosphere from thermal emission of hot gas in the interstellar medium. The X-ray sensitivity below 1 keV was reduced about a factor of four by contamination that occurred early in the flight, limiting the significance of the results. The observed ratio of helium-like O VII forbidden plus intercombination to resonance lines is 1.2 ± 1.2 at 90% confidence. This indicates that at least 67% of the emission is thermal. On the other hand, the observed ratio of C VI Lyγ to Lyα is [special characters omitted], requiring at least a 33% contribution from charge exchange. In addition to these astrophysical results, I present experimental improvements from the addition of a gold coating to the detector array substrate which greatly reduces extraneous signals and from the use of silicon support meshes which improves blocking filter robustness. I also detail a new optimal filtering analysis technique that preserves spectral resolution and live time in the presence of pulse overlap.