Identification of soft high galactic latitude RASS X-ray sources I. A complete count-rate limited sample

We present a summary of spectroscopic identifications for a complete sample of bright soft high galactic latitude X-ray sources drawn from the ROSAT All-Sky Survey which have PSPC count-rates CR > 0.5 cts s−1 and hardness ratios HR1 < 0. Of a total of 397 sources, 270 had catalogued counterparts although most of these were not previously known as X-ray sources; of the remaining 127 sources neither X-ray nor optical properties were previously known. Of the whole sample of very soft X-ray sources 155 were also discovered by the Wide-Field-Camera on board ROSAT. We present spectroscopic identifications of 108 sources and other identifications for further 18 sources; 1 source remains unidentified so far. In practically all cases a unique optical counterpart exists facilitating identification. The largest source classes are AGN, magnetic cataclysmic variables, and hot white dwarfs.