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Paper: Variability Analysis in Wide-Field Mosaic Data
Volume: 281, Astronomical Data Analysis Software and Systems XI
Page: 401
Authors: Ortiz, Patricio F.
Abstract: CCD mosaic observations require a series of exposures, or ditherings, to produce a final image without gaps. It is possible to search for variability on time scales of the order of the total exposure time, usually from several minutes to hours, by using the data from each dithering. Wide-field detectors collect a significant amount of information and it is possible to detect transient events generated by objects within the solar system, as well as photometric variations in stars, or even AGN's. At the Osservatorio Astronomico di Capodimonte (OAC), using data acquired with the 2.2 m WFI in La Silla, we have developed techniques to detect variability in ``pipeline mode'' in preparation for the upcoming VST (VLT Survey Telescope) data. In a 0.5 square degree search approximately 150 asteroids were detected, two thirds of them unlisted, but only some orbital parameters can be determined. On the order of 20 new variable stars with 2h <P <1 day and 0.1 <Δ m <1.5 mag were discovered. These variability detection techniques could be applied to any data obtained with mosaic detectors or where dithering or jittering is needed.
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