The 3-D composition of the Galactic interstellar medium. The hot phases and X-ray absorbing material

Abstract

We present maps of the Galactic X-ray Halo and constrain the location of X-ray absorbing gas using the X-ray radiation transfer as distance a indicator. Based on a consistent model of the soft X-ray background (SXRB) and the ROSAT all-sky survey, we derive the morphology of some components involved in the SXRB. In particular we focus on their spatial and temperature distributions across the sky. Starting from our SXRB model, we extract information on the 3-dimensional composition of the X-ray emitting and absorbing material. Using this approach, it is possible to differentiate between absorbing gas within or behind the Galactic X-ray Halo.Comment: Astron. Nachr. in press, issue dedicated to the proceedings of the workshop "X-ray Surveys in the light of New Observatories", Sep. 2002, Santander, Spai