Soft X-ray Absorption Edges in LMXBs

We propose a survey of RGS observations of bright Xray binaries in thewavelength range between 14 and 25 A in order to measure optical depthsof photoelectric absorption edges of Ne, Fe, O, and possibly N and determineprecise values for column densities. We will also model the structureof observed edges and compare them with most recent laboratory measurements.From the measurement of the equivalent widths of the 1s2p absorption ofmonoatomic oxygen in the ISM and the measurement of the O K edge depthwe can conclude on the distribution of oxygen in the ISM and/or determinesource intrinsic absorption properties. The relative strengths of allmeasured edges will be used to test proposed abundance distributions for the ISM truncated!, Please see actual data for full text [truncated!, Please see actual data for full text]