New variable stars in the Galactic Bulge: I. The bright regime

TL;DR

This paper reports the discovery of 1143 variable stars in the Galactic bulge, including 320 new ones, using VLT data over two years, with detailed cataloging and light curves provided.

Contribution

The study presents a large catalog of newly identified variable stars in the Galactic bulge, expanding the known population with detailed classifications and light curves.

Findings

Discovered 320 new variable stars, including Cepheids and contact binaries.

Detected variables with periods up to approximately 100 days.

Provided comprehensive catalog and light curves for the new variables.

Abstract

We report the detection of 1143 variable stars towards the Galactic bulge, including 320 previously uncatalogued variables, using time-series photometry extracted from data obtained with the VIMOS imager at the Very Large Telescope. Observations of the Sagittarius Window Eclipsing Extrasolar Planet Search (SWEEPS) field in the Galactic Bulge were taken over 2 years between March and October at a cadence of $\sim$ 4 days, enabling the detection of variables with periods up to $\sim$100 days. Many of these were already known, but we detected a significant number of new variables, including 26 Cepheids, a further 18 Cepheid candidates, and many contact binaries. Here we publish the catalog of the new variables, containing coordinates, mean magnitudes as well as periods and classification; full light curves for these variables are also made available electronically.