Variable Stars in the Quintuplet stellar cluster with the VVV Survey

TL;DR

This study identifies and characterizes variable stars near the Quintuplet cluster using five years of near-infrared data, revealing new variables and potential young stellar objects in this dense, massive cluster region.

Contribution

It presents the first extensive near-infrared variability survey of the Quintuplet cluster area, discovering new variable stars and proposing YSO candidates, enhancing understanding of stellar populations near the Galactic center.

Findings

33 variable stars identified, 24 previously unknown

Most variables are long-period Mira and OH/IR stars

Four YSO candidates proposed as potential cluster members

Abstract

The Quintuplet cluster is one of the most massive star clusters in the Milky Way, situated very close to the Galactic center. We present a new search for variable stars in the vicinity of the cluster, using the five-year database of the Vista Variables in the Via Lactea (VVV) ESO Public Survey in the near-infrared. A total of 7586 objects were identified in the zone around $2'$ from the cluster center, using 55 $K_S$-band epochs. Thirty-three stars show $K_S$-band variability, 24 of them being previously undiscovered. Most of the variable stars found are slow/semiregular variables, long-period variables of the Mira type, and OH/IR stars. In addition, a good number of our candidates show variations in a rather short timescale. We also propose four Young Stellar Object (YSO) candidates, which could be cluster members.