A summary of spectroscopic identifications is presented for a complete sample of bright, soft, high galactic-latitude X-ray sources drawn from the ROSAT All-Sky Survey (RASS) which have PSPC count-rates CR>0.5cts/s, hardness ratios HR1<0, and galactic latitudes |b| > 20 degrees. Out of a total of 397 sources, 270 had previously catalogued counterparts, although most of these were not previously known as X-ray sources; of the remaining 127 sources neither X-ray nor optical properties were previously known. Of the whole sample of very soft X-ray sources 155 were also discovered by the Wide-Field-Camera on board ROSAT. Spectroscopic identifications are presented for 108 sources and other identifications for a further 18 sources; 1 source remains unidentified so far. In practically all cases a unique optical counterpart exists, facilitating identification. The largest source classes are AGN, magnetic cataclysmic variables, and hot white dwarfs This database was created by the HEASARC in April 1999 based on tables provided by the authors to CDS/ADC. This is a service provided by NASA HEASARC .

This table contains the ROSAT All-Sky Survey (RASS) Brightest Cluster Sample (BCS) and the Low-Flux Extension, which together form the Extended BCS (eBCS). The main BCS, which was presented in Ebeling et al. (1998, MNRAS, 301, 881; Paper I), is a 90% flux-complete sample of the 201 X-ray-brightest clusters of galaxies in the northern hemisphere (Dec >=0 degrees), at high Galactic latitudes (|b| >= 20 degrees), with measured redshifts z <= 0.3 and X-ray fluxes higher than 4.4 x 10^-12 erg/cm²/s in the 0.1 - 2.4 keV band. This sample, called the ROSAT Brightest Cluster Sample, is selected from RASS data and is the largest X-ray-selected cluster sample compiled to the publication date (1998). In addition to Abell clusters which form the bulk of the sample, the BCS also contains the X-ray-brightest Zwicky clusters and other clusters selected from their X-ray properties alone. Effort has been made to ensure the highest possible completeness of the sample and the smallest possible contamination by non-cluster X-ray sources. X-ray fluxes were computed using an algorithm tailored for the detection and characterization of X-ray emission from galaxy clusters. These fluxes are accurate to better than 15% (mean 1-sigma error). The low-flux extension of the X-ray-selected ROSAT Brightest Cluster Sample was published in Ebeling et al. (2000, MNRAS, 318, 333; Paper IV). Like the original BCS and employing an identical selection procedure, the BCS extension is compiled from ROSAT All-Sky Survey (RASS) data in the northern hemisphere (Dec >=0 degrees) and at high Galactic latitudes (|b| >= 20 degrees). It comprises 99 X-ray-selected clusters of galaxies with measured redshifts z <= 0.3 (as well as eight more at z > 0.3) and total fluxes between 2.8 x 10^-12 and 4.4 x 10^-12 erg/cm²/s in the 0.1 - 2.4keV band (the latter value being the flux limit of the original BCS). The extension can be combined (as it has been in this HEASARC table) with the main sample published in 1998 to form the homogeneously selected extended BCS (eBCS), the largest and statistically best understood cluster sample to emerge from the RASS to date. The nominal completeness of the combined sample (defined with respect to a power-law fit to the bright end of the BCS log N -log S distribution) is relatively low at 75% (compared with 90% for the high-flux sample of Paper I). However, just as for the original BCS, this incompleteness can be accurately quantified, and thus statistically corrected for, as a function of X-ray luminosity and redshift. In addition to its importance for improved statistical studies of the properties of clusters in the local Universe, the low-flux extension of the BCS is also intended to serve as a finding list for X-ray-bright clusters in the northern hemisphere which the authors hoped will prove useful in the preparation of cluster observations to be made with the next generation of X-ray telescopes such as Chandra and XMM-Newton. This table was created by the HEASARC in August 2005 based on the merger of 2 CDS tables, J/MNRAS/301/881/table3.dat.gz (the main sample) and J/MNRAS/318/333/table1.dat.gz (the low-flux extension). This is a service provided by NASA HEASARC .

This table contains some of the first results of a survey for bright quasars (V < 14.5 and R < 15.4) covering the northern hemisphere at Galactic latitudes |b| > 30 degrees. The photometric database is derived from the Guide Star and USNO catalogs. Quasars are identified on the basis of their X-ray emission measured in the ROSAT All-Sky Survey (RASS). The surface density of quasars brighter than 15.5 magnitudes turns out to be (10 +/- 2) x 10^-3 degrees^-2, about 3 times higher than that estimated by the Palomar-Green (PG) survey. In the paper, the quasar optical luminosity function (LF) at 0.04 < z <= 0.3 is computed and shown to be consistent with a luminosity-dependent luminosity evolution of the type derived by La Franca & Cristiani (1997AJ....113.1517L) in the range 0.3 < z <=2.2. The predictions of semianalytical models of hierarchical structure formation agree remarkably well with the present observations. This table was created by the HEASARC in September 2010 based on the combination of the electronic versions of Tables 2, 3, and 4 from the reference paper which were obtained from the CDS (their catalog J/AJ/119/2540). This is a service provided by NASA HEASARC .

The authors have quantitatively cross-associated the 18,811 ROSAT All-Sky Survey Bright Source Catalog (RASS/BSC) X-ray sources with optical sources in the USNO A-2 catalog, calculating the probability of unique association (P_id) between each candidate within 75" of the X-ray source position, on the basis of optical magnitude and proximity. They have generated catalogs of RASS/BSC sources for which P_id > 98%, P_id > 90%, and P_id > 50%, which contain 2705, 5492, and 11,301 unique USNO A-2 optical counterparts respectively down to the stated level of significance. Together with identifications of objects not cataloged in USNO A-2 due to their high surface brightness (M31, M32, ...) and optical pairs, they produced a total of 11,803 associations to a probability of P_id > 50%. They also include in this catalog a list of objects in the SIMBAD database within 10" of the USNO A-2 position, as an aid to identification and source classification. This is the first RASS/BSC counterpart catalog which provides a probability of association between each X-ray source and counterpart, quantifying the certainty of each individual association. The catalog is more useful than previous catalogs which either rely on plausibility arguments for association or do not aid in selecting a counterpart between multiple off-band sources in the field. Sources of high probability of association can be separated out, to produce high-quality lists of classes (Seyfert 1/2s, QSOs, RS CVns) desired for targeted study, or for discovering new examples of known classes (or new classes altogether) through the spectroscopic classification of securely identified but unclassified USNO A-2 counterparts. Low P_id associations can be used for statistical studies and follow-on investigation - for example, performing follow-up spectroscopy of the many low-mass stars to search for signatures of coronal emission, or to investigate the relationship between X-ray emission and classes of sources not previously well-studied for their X-ray emissions (such as pulsating variable stars). The authors find that a fraction ~65.8% of RASS/BSC sources have an identifiable optical counterpart, down to the magnitude limit of the USNO A-2 catalog which could be identified by their spatial proximity and high optical brightness. This table was created by the HEASARC in October 2009 based on electronic versions of Tables 9 (USNO counterparts for which P_id > 98%) and 10 (USNO counterparts for which 90% > P_id > 98%) of the reference paper which were obtained from the Astrophysical Journal web site. This is a service provided by NASA HEASARC .

The ROSAT International X-Ray/Optical Survey (RIXOS) is a medium-sensitivity survey and optical identification program for X-ray sources which were discovered in ROSAT high Galactic latitude fields (|b| > 28 degrees) and observed with the Position Sensitive Proportional Counter (PSPC) detector. The survey made use of the central 17 arcmin of each ROSAT field. A flux limit of 3 x 10^-14 erg/s/cm² (0.5-2.0 keV) was adopted for this survey, and a minimum exposure time of 8000 seconds was required for qualifying ROSAT observations. X-ray sources in the survey are therefore substantially above the detection threshold of each field used, and many contain enough counts to allow the X-ray spectral slope to be estimated. Spectroscopic observations of potential counterparts were obtained of all sources down to the survey limit in 64 fields, totaling a sky area of 15.77 square degrees. Positive optical identifications are made for 94% of the 296 sources thus examined. A further 18 fields (4.44 sq deg), containing 105 sources above the 3 x 10^-14 erg/s/cm² survey limit, are completely optically identified to a higher flux of 8 x 10^-14 erg/s/cm² (0.5-2.0 keV). Optical spectroscopic data are supplemented by deep CCD imaging of many sources to reveal the morphology of the optical counterparts, and objects too faint to register on Sky Survey plates. The faintest optical counterparts have R ~ 22. This table contains the catalog of the RIXOS sources and their optical identifications. This table was originally ingested by the HEASARC in June 2005 based on CDS table J/MNRAS/311/456/rixos.dat. It was updated in November 2013 shortly after the CDS released an update with the previously inadvertently omitted source RX J111809.9+212554 (RIXOS 123_84) included. This is a service provided by NASA HEASARC .