ROSAT Bright Survey: X-ray Sources at High Galactic Latitude

The ROSAT Bright Survey (RBS) is a catalog of over 2000 X-ray sources detected at high galactic latitude during the ROSAT All-Sky Survey. The identification program is more than 99.5% complete and includes 669 X-ray selected AGN and 302 galaxy clusters. This electronic version was created by NASA HEASARC in August 2000 based on a table supplied by Axel Schwope.

Use Cases

• Classifying X-ray source types based on optical and X-ray information.
• Analyzing the properties of a massive, complete sample of X-ray selected AGN.
• Studying the distribution and redshifts of X-ray selected galaxy clusters.
• Investigating candidate isolated neutron stars based on sources without optical counterparts.

Strengths

• Identification program is more than 99.5% complete for the full sample.
• A sub-sample of 931 sources in the hard spectral band is 100% identified.
• Contains optical and X-ray information for each source, including the largest complete sample of X-ray selected AGN (669 members).
• Survey area is explicitly defined as 20391 square degrees at a specific flux limit.

Limitations

• Column-level documentation is absent; field semantics must be inferred after download.
• Row count is unknown, which may limit suitability assessment.
• Data is based on a survey from the 1990s; freshness should be verified for contemporary research.

Provenance

Source

NASA HEASARC, based on a machine-readable table from Axel Schwope.

Collection Method

Sources identified by correlation with SIMBAD and NED databases, supplemented by low-resolution optical spectroscopy and CCD imaging.

Time Range

Based on the ROSAT All-Sky Survey (circa 1990s).

Freshness

Last updated 2026-03-13 19:40:34.292358; freshness should be verified.

Geography

High galactic latitude (|b| > 30 degrees) covering 20391 square degrees.