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Register a new userLarge-Scale Structure in the ROSAT North Ecliptic Pole Survey
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Christopher R. Mullis
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We have used the ROSAT All-Sky Survey around the North Ecliptic Pole to construct a complete sample of galaxy clusters. The deep and contiguous nature of the survey affords us the opportunity to examine large-scale structure in the Universe on scales of hundreds of megaparsecs. We have identified over 99% of the 446 X-ray sources in the survey area. The cluster sample consists of 65 objects with redshifts approaching unity. Surprisingly, some 20% of the clusters exists in a wall-like structure at z=0.088 spanning the entire 9 deg x 9 deg survey region. This is a very significant extension of both the membership and the spatial extent to a known supercluster in this location.
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The sky around the North Ecliptic Pole (NEP), at $alpha$(2000) = 18$^h00^m00^s$, $delta$(2000) = +66degr33arcmin39arcsec, has the deepest exposure of the entire {it ROSAT} All - Sky Survey (RASS). The NEP is an undistinguished region of moderate Galactic latitude, $b=29fdg8$, and hence suitable for compiling statistical samples of both galactic and extragalactic objects. We have made such a compilation in the 80.6 deg$^2$ region surrounding the NEP. Our sample fully exploits the properties of the RASS, since the only criteria for inclusion are source position and significance, and yields the deepest large solid angle contiguous sample of X-ray sources to date. We find 442 unique sources above a flux limit $mathrm{sim2times10^{-14} ~ergs ~cm^{-2} ~s^{-1}}$ in the 0.5--2.0 keV band. In this paper we present the X-ray properties of these sources as determined from the RASS. These include positions, fluxes, spectral information in the form of hardness ratios, and angular sizes. Since we have performed a comprehensive optical identification program we also present the average X-ray properties of classes of objects typical of the X-ray sky at these flux levels. We discuss the use of the RASS to find clusters of galaxies based on their X-ray properties alone.
A detailed analysis of Herschel-PACS observations at the North Ecliptic Pole is presented. High quality maps, covering an area of 0.44 square degrees, are produced and then used to derive potential candidate source lists. A rigorous quality control pipeline has been used to create final legacy catalogues in the PACS Green 100 micron and Red 160 micron bands, containing 1384 and 630 sources respectively. These catalogues reach to more than twice the depth of the current archival Herschel/PACS Point Source Catalogue, detecting 400 and 270 more sources in the short and long wavelength bands respectively. Galaxy source counts are constructed that extend down to flux densities of 6mJy and 19mJy (50% completeness) in the Green 100 micron and Red 160 micron bands respectively. These source counts are consistent with previously published PACS number counts in other fields across the sky. The source counts are then compared with a galaxy evolution model identifying a population of luminous infrared galaxies as responsible for the bulk of the galaxy evolution over the flux range (5-100mJy) spanned by the observed counts, contributing approximate fractions of 50% and 60% to the cosmic infrared background (CIRB) at 100 microns and 160 microns respectively.
We use the ROSAT North Ecliptic Pole (NEP) survey to construct a small, but purely X-ray flux-limited sample of cataclysmic variable stars (CVs). The sample includes only 4 systems, 2 of which (RX J1715.6+6856 and RX J1831.7+6511) are new discoveries. We present time-resolved spectroscopy of the new CVs and measure orbital periods of 1.64 pm 0.02 h and 4.01pm 0.03 h for RX 1715.6+6856 and RX J1831.7+6511, respectively. We also estimate distances for all the CVs in our sample, based mainly on their apparent brightness in the infrared. The space density of the CV population represented by our small sample is (1.1 +2.3/-0.7) 10^-5 pc^-3. We can also place upper limits on the space density of any sub-population of CVs too faint to be included in the NEP survey. In particular, we show that if the overall space density of CVs is as high as 2 10^-4 pc^-3 (as has been predicted theoretically), the vast majority of CVs must be fainter than L_X simeq 2 10^29 erg/s.
The North-Ecliptic Pole is an important region for extragalactic surveys. Deep/wide contiguous surveys are being performed by several space observatories. We analyse all ROSAT pointed and survey observations within 40 deg2 around the NEP, restricting the field-of-view to the inner 30 radius. We obtain an X-ray catalogue of 805 sources with 0.5-2 keV fluxes >2.9E-15 cgs, a factor of three deeper than the ROSAT All-Sky Survey in this field. The sensitivity and angular resolution of our data are comparable to the eROSITA All-Sky Survey expectations. We use HEROES optical and near-infrared imaging photometry from Subaru and CFHT telescopes together with literature catalogues and a new deep and wide Spitzer survey in the field to identify X-ray sources and calculate photometric redshifts for the candidate counterparts. In particular we utilize mid-IR colours to identify AGN X-ray counterparts. Despite relatively large error circles and faint counterparts, confusion and systematic errors, we obtain a rather reliable catalogue of 766 optical counterparts, redshifts and optical classifications. We find a new population of luminous absorbed X-ray AGN at large redshifts, not recognized in previous X-ray surveys, but identified in our work due to the unique combination of survey solid angle, X-ray sensitivity and multiwavelength photometry. We also use the WISE and Spitzer photometry to identify a sample of 185 AGN selected purely through mid-IR colours, most of which are not detected by ROSAT. Their redshifts and upper limits to X-ray luminosity and X-ray to optical flux ratios are even higher than for the new class of X-ray selected luminous AGN2. This unique dataset is important as reference for future deep surveys in the NEP region. Most of the absorbed distant AGN should be readily picked up by eROSITA, but they require sensitive mid-IR imaging to be recognized as optical counterparts.
We have used the ROSAT All-Sky Survey to detect a known supercluster at z=0.087 in the North Ecliptic Pole region. The X-ray data greatly improve our understanding of this superclusters characteristics, approximately doubling our knowledge of the structures spatial extent and tripling the cluster/group membership compared to the optical discovery data. The supercluster is a rich structure consisting of at least 21 galaxy clusters and groups, 12 AGN, 61 IRAS galaxies, and various other objects. A majority of these components were discovered with the X-ray data, but the supercluster is also robustly detected in optical, IR, and UV wavebands. Extending 129 x 102 x 67 (1/h50 Mpc)^3, the North Ecliptic Pole Supercluster has a flattened shape oriented nearly edge-on to our line-of-sight. Owing to the softness of the ROSAT X-ray passband and the deep exposure over a large solid angle, we have detected for the first time a significant population of X-ray emitting galaxy groups in a supercluster. These results demonstrate the effectiveness of X-ray observations with contiguous coverage for studying structure in the Universe.
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