The X-ray properties of nearby Abell clusters from the ROSAT All-Sky Survey: The sample and correlations with optical properties

We present an analysis of the X-ray emission for a complete sample of 288 Abell clusters spanning the redshift range 0.016less than or equal tozless than or equal to0.09 from the ROSAT All-Sky Survey. This sample is based on our 20 cm VLA survey of nearby Abell clusters. We find an X-ray detection rate of 83%. We report cluster X-ray fluxes and luminosities and two different flux ratios indicative of the concentration and extent of the emission. We examine correlations between the X-ray luminosity, Abell richness, and Bautz-Morgan and Rood-Sastry cluster morphologies. We find a strong correlation between L-X and cluster richness coupled with a dependence on the optical morphological type. These results are consistent with the observed scatter between X-ray luminosity and temperature and a large fraction of cooling flows. For each cluster field, we also report the positions, peak X-ray fluxes, and flux ratios of all X-ray peaks above 3 sigma significance within a box of 2x2 h(75)(-1) Mpc centered on Abell's position.