Improved Shadowing Observations of the Galactic Halo with XMM-Newton

We are proposing shadowing observations of the hot gas in the Galactic halo.Unlike recent shadowing observations, we are proposing to observe compact cloudsfor which on and offcloud spectra can be extracted from a single XMM field.This technique is the only way to ensure that the timevariable contribution dueto solar system Xrays is the same in the on and offcloud spectra. From thesedata, we will determine the halo.s Xray spectrum and measure its temperatureand emission measure. This information will help constrain models for the hothalo.s origin. truncated!, Please see actual data for full text [truncated!, Please see actual data for full text]