ROSAT PSPC: Complete X-Ray Source Catalog with Quality Flags

ROSAT's PSPC instrument catalog lists all sources detected by its Standard Analysis Software System in public, unfiltered, pointed datasets. The table includes source parameters like position and count rate, plus reliability flags set by data centers in the US, Germany, and the UK. This superset of the ROSPSPC table was last updated in August 2001 and is provided by NASA HEASARC.

Use Cases

• Filtering reliable X-ray sources based on the provided 'false_det', 'deferred', and 'not_checked' parameter flags.
• Analyzing source detection parameters like position, count rate, and likelihood from the automated SASS algorithm.
• Studying the results of quality checking performed by both automatic algorithms and detailed visual inspection.
• Comparing the complete results archive (ROSPSPCTOTAL) against the filtered subset (ROSPSPC) that excludes flagged sources.

Strengths

• Includes a superset of data with all primary source parameters from the automated detection algorithm.
• Each observation has been quality checked via automatic algorithms and visual inspection, with results encoded as logical flags.
• Flags are provided by multiple international data centers (US, Germany, UK) to help judge source reliability.

Limitations

• Column-level documentation is absent; field semantics must be inferred after download.
• Last updated in August 2001; freshness should be verified for contemporary research.
• Row count is unknown, which may limit suitability assessment for large-scale analysis.

Provenance

Source

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

Collection Method

Sources detected by the Standard Analysis Software System (SASS) in public, unfiltered, pointed PSPC datasets.

Time Range

Observations from the ROSAT mission; catalog updated August 2001.

Freshness

Data last updated August 2001; metadata last updated 2026-03 13.

Geography

Space-based observations; no specific terrestrial geography.