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   PR # 11039
    The soft X-ray transients contain the best black-hole candidate
    objects known, but the mechanism that drives the transient outbursts
    remains unknown.  Observations in quiescence by previous satellites
    have been severely hampered by the high reddening, as these have all
    been at soft energies (or compromised by the lack of spatial resolut-
    ion at high energies).  We therefore propose the first survey of the
    SXTs at medium energies with ASCA to detect the hard X-rays which are
    essential to current theoretical models of the transient outburst
    cycle.



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