ROSAT PSPC: X-ray Sources with Quality Flags

The ROSPSPC database table contains a list of X-ray sources detected by the ROSAT satellite's PSPC instrument. It includes source parameters like position, count rate, and likelihood, along with quality flags from US, German, and UK data centers to judge reliability. The catalog was last updated in August 2001 and is provided by NASA HEASARC.

Use Cases

• Validating X-ray source detections based on the provided quality flags.
• Analyzing spatial distribution of X-ray sources based on position parameters.
• Filtering reliable sources for catalog cross-matching based on exclusion criteria like false_det='T'.
• Studying source characteristics using parameters like count rate and likelihood.

Strengths

• Includes quality flags from multiple international data centers (US, Germany, UK) for reliability assessment.
• Sources have undergone quality checking by both automatic algorithms and detailed visual inspection.
• Excludes sources flagged as false detections, deferred, or not checked to improve data fidelity.

Limitations

• Last updated in August 2001; data is not recent.
• Row count and specific column definitions are unknown, limiting suitability assessment.
• Column-level documentation is absent; field semantics must be inferred after download.

Provenance

Source

National Aeronautics and Space Administration (NASA HEASARC)

Collection Method

Sources detected by the Standard Analysis Software System (SASS) from ROSAT PSPC pointed observations.

Freshness

Last updated 2026-03-13 16:46:19.071274; freshness should be verified.