ROSAT HRI: Complete X-ray Source Catalog with Reliability Flags

A catalog of X-ray sources detected by the ROSAT satellite's High Resolution Imager (HRI), processed by the Standard Analysis Software System (SASS). The data table includes source parameters like position and count rate, along with reliability flags provided by international data centers. This database table was last updated in August 2001 and is maintained by NASA HEASARC.

Use Cases

• Classifying X-ray source reliability based on the provided source and sequence flags.
• Analyzing spatial distribution of X-ray sources based on position parameters.
• Filtering candidate sources for further study by excluding flagged detections (e.g., false_det='T').
• Comparing source properties like count rate and signal-to-noise across different observations.

Strengths

• Includes reliability flags from multiple international data centers (US, Germany, UK) to help judge source quality.
• Represents a superset of a screened table (ROSHRI), providing a more complete raw detection list.
• Data has been screened as part of the ROSAT Results Archive production process.

Limitations

• Data is from 2001; newer observations are not included.
• Row count and specific column definitions are unknown, requiring inspection after download.
• The description lacks column-level documentation; field semantics must be inferred.

Provenance

Source

NASA HEASARC, sourced from ROSAT data centers in the US, Germany, and the UK.

Collection Method

Sources detected by the Standard Analysis Software System (SASS) in reprocessed public HRI datasets.

Time Range

Observations from the ROSAT mission era, culminating in a final update in August 2001.

Freshness

Last updated in August 2001; metadata record updated 2026-03-13.

Geography

Space-based observations; celestial coverage.