Detailed spectral study of the Local Bubble by shadowing nearby globules

Recent extinction maps of highest resolution (5 arcsec) of the Pipe Nebula showconspicuous highly obscured globules, corresponding to column densities of 1E20 1E23 cm2. The accurately known distance of 125 pc, ensures that most of theforeground Xray emission is from the Local Bubble (LB). Due to the largecollecting area of XMM and the specral resolution of EPIC pn we can for thefirst time measure the local foreground spectrum in the energy range 0.3 3.0keV by shadowing experiments. We propose three targets, Barnard 68, Fest 1457and Barnard 59, which cover a large region, thus allowing us to (i) disentangleforeground and background emission, (ii) study the LB spectrum, (iii) analyzespatial and spectral variations in the LB, and (iv) check for cloud evaporation. truncated!, Please see actual data for full text [truncated!, Please see actual data for full text]