Variability type classification of multi-epoch surveys

TL;DR

This paper presents an automated approach for classifying variability types in multi-epoch survey data, addressing challenges like irregular sampling and limited photometric bands, with applications to Gaia data.

Contribution

It introduces a comprehensive automated classification framework combining supervised, unsupervised, and specialized extractor methods for variable star data.

Findings

Effective classification of Gaia variability data

Handling of irregular sampling and limited bands

Integration of multiple classification approaches

Abstract

The classification of time series from photometric large scale surveys into variability types and the description of their properties is difficult for various reasons including but not limited to the irregular sampling, the usually few available photometric bands, and the diversity of variable objects. Furthermore, it can be seen that different physical processes may sometimes produce similar behavior which may end up to be represented as same models. In this article we will also be presenting our approach for processing the data resulting from the Gaia space mission. The approach may be classified into following three broader categories: supervised classification, unsupervised classifications, and "so-called" extractor methods i.e. algorithms that are specialized for particular type of sources. The whole process of classification- from classification attribute extraction to actual classification- is done in an automated manner.