Possible detection of far-ultraviolet line emission from a hot galactic corona

The presence of an emission-line component to the radiation field is suggested by rocket observations, at low resolution, of the spectrum of the diffuse, far-ultraviolet background near the north galactic pole. Removal of the line emission leaves a residual uniform cosmic ultraviolet background radiation of only 150 + or - 50 photons/sq cm s sr A, or about half that previously reported. The lines, which are at the wavelengths of the collisionally-excited atom emissions that have been predicted to arise from a hot galactic corona, suggest that there is no need to explain observed high-ionization states at high galactic latitudes as being due to photoionization caused by neutrino decay.