Variable stars in the Quintuplet stellar cluster with the VVV survey

• Published in: Monthly notices of the Royal Astronomical Society Vol. 462; no. 2; pp. 1180 - 1191
• Main Authors: Navarro Molina, Claudio, Borissova, J., Catelan, M., Alonso-García, J., Kerins, E., Kurtev, R., Lucas, P. W., Medina, N., Minniti, D., Dékány, I.
• Format: Journal Article
• Language: English
• Published: London Oxford University Press 21.10.2016
• Subjects: Clusters; Infrared telescopes; Massive stars; Milky Way; Milky Way Galaxy; Space telescopes; Star clusters; Stars; Stars & galaxies; Variable stars; Variables; stars: variables: general; open clusters and associations: individual: Quintuplet; stars: pre-main-sequence
• ISSN: 0035-8711; 1365-2966
• DOI: 10.1093/mnras/stw1613

The Quintuplet cluster is one of the most massive star clusters in the Milky Way, situated very close to the Galactic Centre. We present a new search for variable stars in the vicinity of the cluster, using the five-year data base 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 arcmin from the cluster centre, using 55 K S -band epochs. 33 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 time-scale. We also propose four young stellar object candidates, which could be cluster members.