Global stellar variability study in the field-of-view of the Kepler satellite

TL;DR

This study automates the analysis of Kepler data to classify stellar variability, identifying new variable stars and eclipsing binaries, and expanding understanding of stellar behavior with a comprehensive catalog.

Contribution

It introduces an improved automated classification pipeline for Kepler data, including new variability classes and detection methods for eclipsing binaries and rotational variables.

Findings

Analyzed 150,000 light curves for stellar variability.

Discovered numerous new candidate non-radial pulsators.

Provided a comprehensive online catalog of classified variables.

Abstract

We present the results of an automated variability analysis of the Kepler public data measured in the first quarter (Q1) of the mission. In total, about 150 000 light curves have been analysed to detect stellar variability, and to identify new members of known variability classes. We also focus on the detection of variables present in eclipsing binary systems, given the important constraints on stellar fundamental parameters they can provide. The methodology we use here is based on the automated variability classification pipeline which was previously developed for and applied successfully to the CoRoT exofield database and to the limited subset of a few thousand Kepler asteroseismology light curves. We use a Fourier decomposition of the light curves to describe their variability behaviour and use the resulting parameters to perform a supervised classification. Several improvements have been made, including a separate extractor method to detect the presence of eclipses when other variability is present in the light curves. We also included two new variability classes compared to previous work: variables showing signs of rotational modulation and of activity. Statistics are given on the number of variables and the number of good candidates per class. A comparison is made with results obtained for the CoRoT exoplanet data. We present some special discoveries, including variable stars in eclipsing binary systems. Many new candidate non-radial pulsators are found, mainly Delta Sct and Gamma Dor stars. We have studied those samples in more detail by using 2MASS colours. The full classification results are made available as an online catalogue.