CDWFS: Chandra survey in Bootes. I. X-ray cat.

The wide field probes a statistically representative volume of the universe at high redshift. The Chandra Deep Wide-field Survey exploits the excellent sensitivity and angular resolution of Chandra over a wide area, combining 281 observations spanning 15yr, for a total exposure time of 3.4Ms, and detects 6891 X-ray point sources down to limiting fluxes of 4.7x10^-16^, 1.5x10^-16^, and 9x10^-16^erg/cm^2^/s in the 0.5-7, 0.5-2, and 2-7keV bands, respectively.

The robustness and reliability of the detection strategy are validated through extensive, state-of-the-art simulations of the whole field. Accurate number counts, in good agreement with previous X-ray surveys, are derived thanks to the uniquely large number of point sources detected, which resolve 65.0%+/-12.8% of the cosmic X-ray background between 0.5 and 2keV and 81.0%+/-11.5% between 2 and 7keV. Exploiting the wealth of multiwavelength data available on the field, we assign redshifts to ~94% of the X-ray sources, estimate their obscuration, and derive absorption-corrected luminosities.