BeppoSAX HELLAS: High-Energy X-Ray Source Catalog for 85 Square Degrees

85 square degrees of sky were surveyed in the 4.5-10 keV band down to a flux of 4-5 x 10^-14 erg/cm^2/s using the BeppoSAX satellite. The catalog, created by the HEASARC in July 2014 based on CDS data, contains sources detected from 142 high Galactic latitude observations, resolving 20-30% of the 5-10 keV X-ray background. Hardness ratio analysis indicates at least one-third of the sources have spectra harder than a power law with alpha_E = 0.6.

Use Cases

• Analyze the spectral hardness and composition of X-ray sources based on the described hardness ratio analysis.
• Study the resolved fraction of the X-ray background based on the source surface density of 16.9 +/- 6.4 deg^-2.
• Investigate source detection and flux conversion in the 4.5-10 keV band based on the described methodology.
• Exclude specific regions (bright Galactic sources, LMC, SMC, M33) for focused extragalactic survey analysis.

Strengths

• Survey covers approximately 85 square degrees of sky with high Galactic latitude constraints (|b| > 20 degrees).
• Sources were detected in four specific energy bands (1.3-10 keV, 1.3-2.5 keV, 2.5-4.5 keV, 4.5-10 keV) with corrected count rates.
• Most fields have exposures between 30 and 100 ks, with 20 fields exceeding 80 ks.

Limitations

• Column-level documentation is absent; field semantics must be inferred after download.
• Row count is unknown, which may limit suitability assessment.

Provenance

Source

National Aeronautics and Space Administration

Collection Method

Observations made by the BeppoSAX Medium Energy Concentrator Spectrometer (MECS), using public and proprietary data.

Time Range

Observations include data from at least March 1999; specific temporal coverage is not detailed.

Freshness

Last updated 2026-03-13 18:12:46.600546; freshness should be verified.

Geography

Sky survey covering approximately 85 square degrees at high Galactic latitudes, excluding regions around bright extended sources, the Galactic plane, and the LMC, SMC, and M33.