Overview of the ROSAT north ecliptic pole survey

We have used the ROSAT All-Sky Survey (RASS) observations at the north ecli ptic pole (NEP) to construct a catalog of X-ray-emitting objects that is bo th deep and contiguous. We give here an overview of this NEP Survey. Our ca talog fully exploits the capabilities of the RASS since the only criterion for inclusion is the source significance and location on the sky. There are 445 unique sources above a flux of similar to2 x 10(-14) ergs s(-1) cm(-2) (0.5- 2. 0 keV) in the 80.7 deg(2) region that we consider. We have optica lly identified 99.6% of these sources and have obtained redshifts for the e xtragalactic objects. The main constituents of the catalog are active galac tic nuclei (AGNs; 49.0%), stars (34.3%), and groups and clusters of galaxie s (14.4%). We provide the NEP Survey selection function (solid angle search ed above a given flux limit), the AGNs, the clusters of galaxies, and the B L Lacertae X-ray log N(>S)-log S distribution as well as the catalog redshi ft distributions for AGNs and clusters.