a Physics Department, University of Wisconsin, Madison, WI 53706, USA
b Max-Planck-Institut für Extraterrestrische Physik, D-8046, Garching, Germany
Abstract:
The ROSAT all-sky survey and Guest Observer pointed observations have brought a wealth of high-quality data to the study of the soft X-ray diffuse background. Analysis of the spatial structure of the 1/4 keV flux, including observations of shadows cast by discrete clouds in the interstellar medium, have allowed the separation of the observed flux into foreground and background components supporting a spatially varying local component consistent with previous ideas of the local hot bubble, a highly variable galactic halo component, and an extragalactic background.