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Description
This table contains the ROSAT North Ecliptic Pole (NEP) Survey list of optical identifications. The X-ray data around the NEP from the ROSAT All-Sky Survey (RASS) were used to construct a contiguous area survey which consisted of a sample of 445 individual X-ray sources with fluxes more than ~2x10<sup>-14</sup> erg/cm<sup>2</sup>/s in the 0.5 - 2.0 keV energy band. The NEP survey is centered at RA= 18hr 00min Dec= +66deg 33', and covers a region of 80.7 square degrees at a moderate Galactic latitude b= 29.8 degrees. Hence, the NEP survey is as deep as and covers a comparable solid angle to the ROSAT serendipitous surveys but is also contiguous. The authors identified 99.6% of the sources and determined redshifts for the extragalactic objects. This table contains the optical identifications for the NEP catalog of X-ray sources, including basic X-ray data and properties of the sources. The classification of the optical counterparts to the NEP sources is very similar to that of previous surveys, in particular the Einstein Extended Medium Sensitivity Survey (EMSS). The main constituents of the catalog are active galactic nuclei (AGN) (~49%), either type 1 or type 2 according to the broadness of their permitted emission lines. Stellar counterparts are the second most common identification class (~34%). Clusters and groups of galaxies comprise 14%, and BL Lacertae objects 2%. One non-AGN galaxy and one planetary nebula have also been found. The NEP catalog of X-ray sources is a homogeneous sample of astronomical objects featuring complete optical identification. The data on AGN in this catalog are essentially superceded by the data in the more recent catalog of Mullis et al. (2004, ApJ, 617, 192), available in HEASARC Browse as the ROSNEPOID table (q.v.), in which, inter alia, a corrected count rate to flux conversion and a different cosmology were used. This table was created by the HEASARC in April 2005 based on CDS table J/ApJS/149/29/table3.dat This is a service provided by NASA HEASARC .
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