Highlights of the LINEAR survey

TL;DR

The LINEAR survey, originally designed for asteroid detection, has been repurposed for time domain astronomy, resulting in a reliable catalog of variable stars and the search for exotic transient events in a largely unexplored sky region.

Contribution

This paper presents the transformation of the LINEAR asteroid survey data into a valuable resource for studying variable stars and transient phenomena, expanding its scientific utility.

Findings

Catalog of ~7,200 variable stars created

Identification of candidate exotic transient events

Demonstration of survey's effectiveness for time domain studies

Abstract

Lincoln Near-Earth Asteroid Research asteroid survey (LINEAR) observed approximately 10,000 deg$^2$ of the northern sky in the period roughly from 1998 to 2013. Long baseline of observations combined with good cadence and depth ($14.5 < r_{SDSS}< 17.5$) provides excellent basis for investigation of variable and transient objects in this relatively faint and underexplored part of the sky. Details covering the repurposing of this survey for use in time domain astronomy, creation of a highly reliable catalogue of approximately 7,200 periodically variable stars (RR Lyrae, eclipsing binaries, SX Phe stars and LPVs) as well as search for optical signatures of exotic transient events (such as tidal disruption event candidates), are presented.