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Richard Lieu, Stuart Bowyer, Michael Lampton, Patrick Jelinsky, Jerry Edelstein
Measurements of the diffuse extreme ultraviolet background in two filter wavebands covering 50--190 angstroms and 160--360 angstroms, as obtained during Extreme Ultraviolet Explorer (EUVE) first light observations, are presented. The data were gathered by the Deep Survey telescope while it was pointed at a direction l=5.6 degrees, b=+1.3 degrees. Correlation studies of count rates reveal that the Deep Survey telescope is relatively free from sources of terrestrial background. Up to 40 minutes of data with especially low background were identified. All known components of the observed background not attributed to diffuse astronomical emission have been evaluated. An astronomical diffuse component in the 50--190 angstrom band is detected with an intensity of 1.71 +/- 0.17 photons cm^(-2) s^(-1) sr^(-1) angstrom^(-1), assuming a flat continuum. In the 160--360 angstrom band our data establish an upper limit to a flat continuum intensity of 3.63 photons cm^(-2) s^(-1) sr^(-1) angstroms^(-1), by far the lowest measurement to date. We have compared predictions of the Landini-Fossi thin plasma line emission model with the EUVE results, the Wisconsin B band and Be band data, and the ROSAT WFC observations. It is demonstrated that no single temperature plasma can explain all the data.
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