NGC 2024 Chandra X-Ray Point Source Catalog: 283 Detected Sources

A 76 ks Chandra X-ray observation of the young stellar cluster NGC 2024 in the Orion B molecular cloud, approximately 415 parsecs distant. The catalog contains 283 X-ray sources, with 248 identified with counterparts at other wavelengths, and was created by NASA HEASARC in January 2007 based on CDS data. Spectral analysis of over 100 bright sources indicates a mean V-band extinction of ~10.5 magnitudes and typical plasma energies around 3 keV.

Use Cases

• Study X-ray activity in optically invisible protostars based on the detection of embedded young stars.
• Analyze correlations between X-ray and bolometric luminosities based on the sample of 27 detected classical T Tauri stars.
• Investigate hard, heavily absorbed spectra and variability patterns mentioned for the Chandra detections.
• Examine astrometric registration results and counterpart identifications based on the ~0.25" positional offset against 2MASS.

Strengths

• Contains 283 X-ray sources with 248 identified counterparts, providing a substantial sample for analysis.
• High-confidence identifications from astrometric registration with ~0.25" positional offsets near field center.
• Spectral analysis performed on more than 100 of the brightest sources, yielding quantified extinction and plasma energy values.

Limitations

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

Provenance

Source

NASA HEASARC, based on CDS table J/ApJ/598/375/table1.dat.

Collection Method

Results from a sensitive 76 ks Chandra X-ray Observatory observation.

Time Range

Observation date not specified; catalog created January 2007.

Freshness

Last updated 2026-03-13 16:36:48.688398; freshness should be verified.

Geography

Young stellar cluster NGC 2024 in the Orion B giant molecular cloud, distance ~415 pc.