A medium sensitivity X-ray survey using the Einstein Observatory - The log N-log S relation for extragalactic X-ray sources

Abstract

The paper presents results of an X-ray survey of about 50 sq deg of the high galactic latitude sky at sensitivities in the range of 7 x 10 to the -14 to 5 x 10 to the -12 ergs/sq cm/s. The number-flux relation is derived for the extragalactic population to yield a best-fit power-law slope of 1.53 + or - 0.16, and the content of the sample is analyzed in terms of types of sources, appearing to be significantly different from the content of similar samples selected at higher fluxes. The medium sensitivity sample of extragalactic sources is dominated by active galactic nuclei, while samples selected at higher fluxes and higher energies are dominated by clusters of galaxies. Thus, the number-flux relation for extragalactic sources may be interpreted to a first approximation as the sum of the two different distributions with flatter and steeper slopes describing clusters and AGNs, respectively.