The BeppoSAX High Energy Large Area Survey (HELLAS) - II. Number counts and X-ray spectral properties

The BeppoSAX High Energy Large Area Survey (HELLAS) has surveyed about 85deg<SUP>2</SUP> of sky in the 5-10keV band down to a flux of 4-510<SUP>-14</SUP>ergcm<SUP>-2</SUP>s<SUP>-1</SUP>. The source surface density of 16.9+/-6.4deg<SUP>-2</SUP> at the survey limit corresponds to a resolved fraction of the 5-10keV X-ray background (XRB) of the order of 20-30 per cent. Hardness ratio analysis indicates that the spectra of a substantial fraction of the HELLAS sources (at least one-third) are harder than a alpha<SUB>E</SUB>=0.6 power law. This hardness may be caused by large absorbing columns. The hardness ratio analysis also indicates that many HELLAS sources may have a spectrum more complex than a single absorbed power law. A soft component, superimposed on a strongly cut-off power law, is likely to be present in several sources.