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Published online by Cambridge University Press: 04 August 2017
The interstellar medium contains identifiable hot plasma clouds occupying up to about 35% of the volume of the local galactic disc. The temperature of these clouds is not uniform but ranges from 105 up to 4 × 106°K. Besides the high temperature which places the emission spectrum in the soft x-ray band, the implied pressure of the hot plasma compared to the cooler gas reveals the importance of this component in determining the motions and evolution of the cooler gas in the disc, as well as providing a source of hot gas which may extend above the galactic disc to form a corona. The following report presents data from the A-2 soft x-ray experiment on the HEAO–1 spacecraft concerning the large scale features of this gas. These features will be interpreted in terms of the late phases of supernovae expansion, multiple supernovae and the possible creation of a hot halo surrounding the region of the galactic nucleus.