Solar wind charge exchange and local hot bubble X-ray emission with the DXL sounding rocket experiment

摘要

The Diffuse X-ray emission from the Local Galaxy (DXL) sounding rocket is a NASA approved mission with a scheduled first launch in December 2012. Its goal is to identify and separate the X-ray emission of the solar wind charge exchange (SWCX) from that of the local hot bubble (LHB) to improve our understanding of both. To separate the SWCX contribution from the LHB, DXL will use the SWCX signature due to the helium focusing cone at l = 185°, b = –18°. DXL uses large area proportional counters, with an area of 1000 cm2 and grasp of about 10 cm2 sr both in the 1/4 and 3/4 keV bands. Thanks to the large grasp, DXL will achieve in a 5-minute flight what cannot be achieved by current and future X-ray satellites (? 2012 WILEY-VCH Verlag GmbH & Co. KGaA, Weinheim)