The Chandra Source Catalog Normal Galaxy Sample

Abstract

Abstract We present the extensive and well-characterized Chandra X-ray Galaxy Catalog (CGC) of 8547 galaxy candidates in the redshift range z ∼ 0.04–0.7, optical luminosity 1010–1011 Lr ⊙, and X-ray luminosity (0.5–7 keV) L X = 2 × 1040–2 × 1043 erg s−1. We estimate a ∼5% false-match fraction and contamination by quasi-stellar objects (QSOs). The CGC was extracted from the Chandra Source Catalog version 2 (CSC2) by cross-correlating with optical and IR all-sky survey data, including the Sloan Digital Sky Survey, Pan-STARRS, DESI Legacy, and Wide-field Infrared Survey Explorer (WISE). Our selection makes use of two main criteria that we have tested on the subsample with optical spectroscopical identification. (1) A joint selection based on X-ray luminosity (L X) and X-ray-to-optical flux ratio (F XO), which recovers 63% of the spectroscopically classified galaxies with a small contamination fraction (7%), which is a significant improvement over methods using L X or F XO alone (<50% recovery). (2) A joint W1–W2 (W12) WISE color and L X selection that proves effective in excluding QSOs and improves our selection by recovering 72% of the spectroscopically classified galaxies and reducing the contamination fraction (4%). Of the CGC, 24% was selected by means of optical spectroscopy; 30% on the basis of L X, F XO, and W12; and 46% by using either the L X–F XO or the L X–W12 selection criteria. We have individually examined the data for galaxies with z < 0.1, which may include more than one CSC2 X-ray source, leading to the exclusion of 110 local galaxies. Our catalog also includes near-IR and UV data and galaxy morphological types.