EXOSAT/CMA Survey: 210 Soft X-ray Sources at High Galactic Latitude

783 square degrees of high galactic latitude sky surveyed in the 0.05-2.0 keV soft X-ray band by NASA's EXOSAT imaging telescopes. The dataset includes 210 serendipitous sources defining a flux-limited sample, with 200 identified via optical and radio observations. The catalog was generated from the CMA database using a standard processing of the LE data and a sliding cell detection algorithm.

Use Cases

• Study the logN-logS relation for extragalactic sources based on the flux-limited sample.
• Analyze the average spectral slope of AGN in the soft X-ray band based on survey results.
• Investigate associations between AGN detection and Galactic NH (hydrogen column density).
• Identify and characterize populations of Galactic soft X-ray emitters, including stars, white dwarfs, and AM Her systems.

Strengths

• Defines a complete flux-limited sample of 210 serendipitous X-ray sources.
• 200 of the 210 sources are identified, making the sample essentially fully identified.
• Covers a significant area of 783 square degrees at high galactic latitude.

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 (NASA HEASARC).

Collection Method

Survey performed using EXOSAT imaging telescopes; source detection used a sliding cell method on processed LE data.

Time Range

null

Freshness

Last updated 2026-03-13 19:28:22.813643; freshness should be verified.

Geography

High galactic latitude sky.