RESOLVING THE ORIGIN OF THE DIFFUSE SOFT X-RAY BACKGROUND

The ubiquitous diffuse soft (1/4 keV) X-ray background was one of the earliest discoveries of X-ray astronomy. At least some of the emission may arise from charge exchange between solar wind ions and neutral atoms in the heliosphere, but no detailed models have been fit to the available data. Here,...

Full description

Saved in:
Bibliographic Details
Published in:The Astrophysical journal 2014-05, Vol.787 (1), p.1-5
Main Authors: Smith, Randall K, Foster, Adam R, Edgar, Richard J, Brickhouse, Nancy S
Format: Article
Language:English
Subjects:
ASTRONOMY
ASTROPHYSICS, COSMOLOGY AND ASTRONOMY
ATOMS
CHARGE EXCHANGE
Diffusion
EMISSION
EQUILIBRIUM
EXTREME ULTRAVIOLET SPECTRA
HELIOSPHERE
Holes
HOT PLASMA
INTERSTELLAR SPACE
IONS
RESOLUTION
SOFT X RADIATION
Soft x-rays
SOLAR SYSTEM
SOLAR WIND
SUN
X-rays
Citations: Items that this one cites
Items that cite this one
Online Access:Get full text
Tags: Add Tag
No Tags, Be the first to tag this record!
Description
Summary:The ubiquitous diffuse soft (1/4 keV) X-ray background was one of the earliest discoveries of X-ray astronomy. At least some of the emission may arise from charge exchange between solar wind ions and neutral atoms in the heliosphere, but no detailed models have been fit to the available data. Here, we report on a new model for charge exchange in the solar wind, which, when combined with a diffuse hot plasma component, filling the Local Cavity provides a good fit to the only available high-resolution soft X-ray and extreme ultraviolet spectra using plausible parameters for the solar wind. The implied hot plasma component is in pressure equilibrium with the local cloud that surrounds the solar system, creating for the first time a self-consistent picture of the local interstellar medium.
ISSN:0004-637X
1538-4357
DOI:10.1088/0004-637X/787/1/77