Astronomers Release an Unprecedented Data Set on Variability of Celestial Objects

Caltech press release: local pdf file or link

Univ. of Arizona press release: link

Also reproduced at EurekaAlert

Abstract of the paper presented at the AAS

CRTS survey

Data server

Figures (click on the small image to display a larger jpeg, and save as needed):


Caption:
An example of a star that flares occasionally. This is a so-called dwarf nova, a binary star system where a material flows from a red giant star to a compact, dense white dwarf companion, and sometimes causes major explosions that do not destroy them. The graph shows a brightness history of this star over a period of 7 years. The pictures at the top correspond to the high and low states as indicated by the arrows. Such systems are important for understanding of stellar evolution, and the CRTS team has discovered nearly a thousand of them, much more than any other survey.

Image credit: The CRTS Survey Team, California Institute of Technology


Caption:
The Catalina Schmidt telescope on Mt. Bigelow, AZ, where the data were obtained. Also available here

Image credit: The CSS Survey Team, Univ. of Arizona


For more information, please contact:

Andrew Drake
ph. +1 (626) 395-2913
email: ajd @ cacr.caltech.edu

George Djorgovski
ph. +1 (626) 395-4415
email: george @ astro.caltech.edu

Ed Beshore
ph. +1 (520) 621-4900
email: ebeshore @ lpl.arizona.edu