Nature of the Galactic X-ray background

Research report (imported) 2006 - Max Planck Institute for Astrophysics

Authors

Revnivtsev, Mikhail; Sazonov, Sergey; Krivonos, Roman; Chluba, Jens

Departments

Hochenergie-Astrophysik (Prof. Dr. Rashid Sunyaev)
MPI für Astrophysik, Garching

Summary

A team of X-ray astronomers resolved the thirty-years-old puzzle of the origin of the Galactic X-ray background emission. Combining data from various space-based X-ray instruments (RXTE/PCA, INTEGRAL/IBIS, CHANDRA/ACIS, ROSAT/PSPC) and infrared instruments (COBE/DIRBE) they showed that the Galactic X-ray background predominantly consists of emission of a large number of point sources, mostly cataclysmic variables and coronally active stars.

For the full text, see the German version.