Imaging X-ray astronomy: The Cygnus Loop SNR.

Supernovae and supernova remnants (SNR) are probably important energy sources in the interstellar medium (ISM) and an understanding of the intermediate and advanced stages of SNR evolution are particularly essential. This thesis describes, first a brief review of the current understanding of the ISM and later stages of SNR evolution, then a detailed review of observations of the Cygnus Loop SNR, a relatively old SNR. Details are given of the design and instrumentation of a rocket-borne experiment, which subsequently was utilized to obtain the first X-ray image of a SNR, the Cygnus Loop. The results of X-ray image and spectral analysis are presented, and discussed with respect to previous optical, radio and X-ray observations, and to current SNR blast wave and ISM models.