Studying the Cosmic X-ray Background with XMM-Newton
  We present a work in progress aimed at measuring the spectrum of the Cosmic X-ray Background (CXB) with the EPIC detectors onboard XMM-Newton. Our study includes a detailed characterization of the EPIC non X-ray background, which is crucial in making a robust measurement of the spectrum of CXB. We present preliminary results, based on the analysis of a set of Commissioning and Performance Verification high galactic latitude observations. 
A.De Luca (1,2) and S.Molendi (1) ((1) IASF-CNR, Milano, Italy, (2)   Universita' di Milano Bicocca, Milano, Italy)