Variable Evolved Stars and YSOs Discovered in the Large Magellanic Cloud using the SAGE Survey


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We present initial results and source lists of variable sources in the Large Magellanic Cloud (LMC) for which we detect thermal infrared variability from the SAGE (Surveying the Agents of a Galaxys Evolution) survey, which had 2 epochs of photometry separated by three months. The SAGE survey mapped a 7 degree by 7 degree region of the LMC using the IRAC and the MIPS instruments on board Spitzer. Variable sources are identified using a combination of the IRAC 3.6, 4.5, 5.8, 8.0 micron bands and the MIPS 24 micron bands. An error-weighted flux difference between the two epochs is used to assess the variability. Of the ~ 3 million sources detected at both epochs we find ~ 2,000 variable sources for which we provide electronic catalogs. Most of the variable sources can be classified as asymptotic giant branch (AGB) stars. A large fraction (> 66%) of the extreme AGB stars are variable and only smaller fractions of carbon-rich (6.1%) and oxygen-rich (2.0%) stars are detected as variable. We also detect a population of variable young stellar object candidates.

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