We have conducted a variability survey of the Local Group galaxy M33, using g', r', and i' observations from 27 nights spanning 17 months, made with the MegaPrime/MegaCam instrument on the 3.6m CFHT telescope (Canada-France-Hawaii Telescope). We identify more than 36000 variable sources with g', r', i'<~24, out of approximately two million point sources in a 1-deg^2^ field of view. This increases the number of known variables in this galaxy by more than a factor of 20. In this paper, we provide a brief description of the data and a general overview of the variable star population which includes more than 1300 candidate variable blue and red supergiant stars, more than 2000 Cepheids, and more than 19000 long-period variable asymptotic giant branch and red giant branch stars.
In 6 years of operation, INTEGRAL/ISGRI revealed more than 500 sources. Many of these sources are variable. Taking into account that nearly half of INTEGRAL/ISGRI sources are new and many of them are still unidentified, the variability properties of the sources can serve as additional parameters that may help to classify and identify the unknown sources. In order to study the variability properties of the sources detected by INTEGRAL/ISGRI we develop a method to quantify the variability of a source. We describe here our techniques and compile a catalog of the sources that fit our criteria of variability.
We present a catalog of photometrically variable stars discovered within two 21.3'x21.3' fields centered on the Cygnus OB2 association (Cyg OB2). There have hitherto been no deep optical variability studies of Cyg OB2, despite it being replete with early-type massive stars, likely due to the high and variable extinction (up to A_V_~20) that permeates much of the region. Here, we provide results of the first variability study with this combination of spatial coverage (~0.5deg) and photometric depth (R~21mag). We find 121 stars to be variable in both R and I bands, 115 of them newly discovered. Of the 121 variables, we identify 27 eclipsing binaries and eclipsing-binary candidates, 52 pulsating variables, and 20 potential Herbig Ae/Be stars. Confirming both the status and the cluster membership of the Herbig Ae/Be stars would address the uncertainty regarding the age and star formation history of Cyg OB2. We match our catalog to known variables and binaries in the region, Two Micron All Sky Survey near-IR data, and Chandra X-ray observations to find counterparts to new variables in other wavelengths.
The existing CCD/Transit Instrument (CTI-I) survey database was searched for variable stars with 12<V<18.5. This magnitude range corresponds to the saturation limit and the practical faint limit of the original survey (1987-1992). The CTI-I imaged a strip of the sky with a narrow spread of declination over all right ascensions. The resulting survey area covers a large range of both Galactic latitude and longitude, and includes approximately 50deg^2^. Numerous challenges created by the automated photometry pipeline and associated solutions to these problems implemented during the variable suspect selection process are described. The final list contains 1807 stars. Details and the photometry of each are provided to facilitate selection for follow-up observations and subsequent analysis. Known variable stars listed in the General Catalog of Variable Stars are identified, and follow-up observations at the US Air Force Academy Observatory of selected brighter suspects (V<15) previously not identified as variable are also described.
Based on the data obtained from the Spitzer/Galactic Legacy Infrared Midplane Survey Extraordinaire (GLIPMSE) Legacy Program and the Two Micron All Sky Survey (2MASS) project, we derive the extinction in the four IRAC bands, [3.6], [4.5], [5.8], and [8.0]um, relative to the 2MASS Ks band (at 2.16um) for 131 GLIPMSE fields along the Galactic plane within |l|<=65{deg}, using red giants and red clump giants as tracers. As a whole, the mean extinction in the IRAC bands (normalized to the 2MASS Ks band), A_[3.6]_/A_Ks_~0.63+/-0.01, A_[4.5]_/A_Ks_~0.57+/-0.03, A_[5.8]/A_Ks_~0.49+/-0.03, A_[8.0]_/A_Ks_~0.55+/-0.03, exhibits little variation with wavelength (i.e., the extinction is somewhat flat or gray). As far as individual sightline is concerned, however, the wavelength dependence of the mid-infrared interstellar extinction A_{lambda}_/A_Ks_ varies from one sightline to another, suggesting that there may not exist a "universal" IR extinction law.
The U.S. Naval Observatory is in the process of making new reductions of the Astrographic Catalogue (AC) using a modern reference system, the ACRS, which represents the system of the FK5. The data from the Vatican Zone, whose plates are centered between declinations +55 and +64 degrees (eq. 1900), have been analyzed for scale, rotation, tilt, coma, magnitude equation, radial distortion and distortions introduced by the use of reseaux in the Carte du Ciel program. The result is a positional catalog of over 256,000 stars on eq. J2000.0, epoch of observation. Additionally, all stars have been matched with the Tycho Input Catalog (revised); those numbers have been added for additional identification purposes.
The survey represents a search for H{alpha} emission-line stars, and was conducted with a 12{deg} objective prism on the Vatican Schmidt telescope. The Vatican Emission Stars (VES) survey covers the galactic plane (|b|<=5{deg}) between galactic longitudes 58 and 174{deg}. The catalog was re-examined by B. Skiff (Lowell Observatory), and tne VES stars were cross-identified with modern surveys: GSC (Cat. I/255), Tycho-2 (I/256), 2MASS (II/246), IRAS point source catalog (II/125), MSX6C (V/114), CMC14 (I/304), GSC-2.3 (I/305), UCAC2 (I/289). Cross-identifications are also supplied with HD/BD/GCVS names, and with Dearborn catalog of red stars (II/68). Many of the stars in the first four papers are not early-type emission-line stars, but instead M giants, where the sharp TiO bandhead at 6544{AA} was mistaken for H-{alpha} emission on the objective-prism plates. Based on the revision of paper V and a later list prepared by Jack MacConnell, a column identifies the "non H-alpha" stars explicitly. The links with the Dearborn, IRAS, and MSX catalogues help identify the red stars. These and other identifications and comments are given in the remarks at the end of each line, or in longer notes in a separate file, indicated by an asterisk (*) next to the star number.
We performed a deep wide-field (6.76 square-degrees) near-infrared survey with the VISTA telescope that covers the entire extent of the Carina nebula complex. Complementing the VISTA near-infrared catalog with Spitzer IRAC mid-infrared photometry improves the situation of the background contamination considerably. We find that a (J-H) versus (Ks-[4.5]) color-color diagram is well suited to tracing the population of YSO-candidates (cYSOs) by their infrared excess. We identify 8781 sources with strong infrared excess, which we consider as cYSOs. This sample is used to investigate the spatial distribution of the cYSOs with a nearest-neighbor analysis. The surface density distribution of cYSOs agrees well with the shape of the clouds as seen in our Herschel far-infrared survey. The strong decline in the surface density of excess sources outside the area of the clouds supports the hypothesis that our excess-selected sample consists predominantly of cYSOs with a low level of background contamination.
We present the VST Early-type GAlaxy Survey (VEGAS), which is designed to obtain deep multiband photometry in g, r, i, of about one hundred nearby galaxies down to 27.3, 26.8, and 26mag/arcsec^2^ respectively, using the ESO facility VST/OmegaCAM. The goals of the survey are 1) to map the light distribution up to ten effective radii, r_e_; 2) to trace color gradients and surface brightness fluctuation gradients out to a few r_e_ for stellar population characterization; and 3) to obtain a full census of the satellite systems (globular clusters and dwarf galaxies) out to 20% of the galaxy virial radius. The external regions of galaxies retain signatures of the formation and evolution mechanisms that shaped them, and the study of nearby objects enables a detailed analysis of their morphology and interaction features. To clarify the complex variety of formation mechanisms of early-type galaxies (ETGs), wide and deep photometry is the primary observational step, which at the moment has been pursued with only a few dedicated programs. The VEGAS survey has been designated to provide these data for a volume-limited sample with exceptional image quality. In this commissioning photometric paper we illustrate the capabilities of the survey using g- and i-band VST/OmegaCAM images of the nearby galaxy NGC 4472 and of smaller ETGs in the surrounding field. Our surface brightness profiles reach rather faint levels and agree excellently well with previous literature. Genuine new results concern the detection of an intracluster light tail in NGC 4472 and of various substructures at increasing scales. We have also produced extended (g-i) color profiles. The VST/OmegaCAM data that we acquire in the context of the VEGAS survey provide a detailed view of substructures in the optical emission from extended galaxies, which can be as faint as a hundred times below the sky level.
We analyze orbital solutions for 48 massive multiple-star systems in the Cygnus OB2 association, 23 of which are newly presented here, to find that the observed distribution of orbital periods is approximately uniform in log P for P<45days, but it is not scale-free. Inflections in the cumulative distribution near 6days, 14days, and 45days suggest key physical scales of =~0.2, =~0.4, and =~1A.U. where yet-to-be-identified phenomena create distinct features. No single power law provides a statistically compelling prescription, but if features are ignored, a power law with exponent {beta}=~-0.22 provides a crude approximation over P=1.4-2000days, as does a piece-wise linear function with a break near 45days. The cumulative period distribution flattens at P>45days, even after correction for completeness, indicating either a lower binary fraction or a shift toward low-mass companions. A high degree of similarity (91% likelihood) between the Cyg OB2 period distribution and that of other surveys suggests that the binary properties at P<~25days are determined by local physics of disk/clump fragmentation and are relatively insensitive to environmental and evolutionary factors. Fully 30% of the unbiased parent sample is a binary with period P<45days. Completeness corrections imply a binary fraction near 55% for P<5000days. The observed distribution of mass ratios 0.2<q<1 is consistent with uniform, while the observed distribution of eccentricities 0.1<e<0.6 is consistent with uniform plus an excess of e=~0 systems. We identify six stars, all supergiants, that exhibit aperiodic velocity variations of ~30km/s attributed to atmospheric fluctuations.
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