| This thesis presents preliminary maps and results obtained during the first sounding rocket flight of an experiment designed to perform narrowband imaging of line and continuum components of the diffuse far-ultraviolet background. The instrument is capable of measuring C IV emission (155 nm), {dollar}rm Hsb2{dollar} fluorescence {dollar}({lcub}sim{rcub}160{dollar} nm) and far-UV continuum (140-180 nm) over large portions of the sky with good sensitivity on degree scales. The experiment consists of four co-aligned, wide-field {dollar}(30spcirc times 20spcirc ){dollar} self-filtering telescopes with 7-10 nm bandpasses centered on 145, 155, 161, and 176 nm. The three-mirror telescope design and microchannel-plate detector with two- dimensional readout provide {dollar}{lcub}sim{rcub}5spprime{dollar} imaging for point-source subtraction. The instrument was launched on the night of July, 14 1996 from White Sands Missile Range, New Mexico. It scanned over 10,000 {dollar}rm degsp2 (pi{dollar} sr) during its 300 second flight.; Among the first results is a map of global C IV emission from the Cygnus loop supernova remnant. Partial skymaps for each waveband and preliminary data concerning the components of the Galactic and extragalactic far-UV background are presented and discussed in relation to the nature of the hot, warm and cold phases of the interstellar medium and the star formation history of the universe. |
