In Quest of Variable Stars With Near-Infrared Surveys (Abstract)

Volume 35 number 1 (2007)

N. Epchtein

Abstract

(Abstract only) Two projects have recently taken up the challenge of deeply surveying the near-infrared (IR) sky on a large scale: 2MASS in the United States, and DENIS in Europe. Before the end of the century, the astronomical community will be provided with one of the largest photometric databases ever produced, including several hundred million stars with a large proportion of new variables. I will present the status of these currently ongoing projects and show how astronomers in quest of new variable stars, as well as those investigating their physical properties, will benefit from these new databases.