The VMC survey -- XXXVI. Young stellar variability in the Large Magellanic Cloud

Abstract

Studies of young stellar objects (YSOs) in the Galaxy have found that a significant fraction exhibit photometric variability. However, no systematic investigation has been conducted on the variability of extragalactic YSOs. Here we present the first variability study of massive YSOs in a $\sim 1.5\mathrm{de}{\mathrm{g}}^2$ region of the Large Magellanic Cloud (LMC). The aim is to investigate whether the different environmental conditions in the metal-poor LMC ($\sim$ 0.4-0.5 Z_sun) have an impact on the variability characteristics. Multi-epoch near-infrared (NIR) photometry was obtained from the VISTA Survey of the Magellanic Clouds (VMC) and our own monitoring campaign using the VISTA telescope. By applying a reduced ${\chi }^2$-analysis, stellar variability was identified. We found 3062 candidate variable stars from a population of 362 425 stars detected. Based on several Spitzer studies, we compiled a sample of high-reliability massive YSOs: a total of 173 massive YSOs have NIR counterparts ($K_{\mathrm{s}}\sim 18.5$mag) in the VMC catalogue, of which 39 display significant ($>3\sigma$) variability. They have been classified as eruptive, fader, dipper, short-term variable and long-period variable YSOs based mostly on the appearance of their $K_{\mathrm{s}}$ band light curves. The majority of YSOs are aperiodic, only five YSOs exhibit periodic lightcurves. The observed amplitudes are comparable or smaller than those for Galactic YSOs (only two Magellanic YSOs exhibit $\Delta K_{\mathrm{s}}>1$mag), not what would have been expected from the typically larger mass accretion rates observed in the Magellanic Clouds.

arXiv commentAccepted for publication in MNRAS, 32 pages, 24 figures

References in corpus (67)

• The SIMBAD astronomical database
• The Infrared Spectrograph on the Spitzer Space Telescope
• Interpreting Spectral Energy Distributions from Young Stellar Objects. I. A grid of 200,000 YSO model SEDs
• Spitzer Survey of the Large Magellanic Cloud, Surveying the Agents of a Galaxy's Evolution (SAGE) I: Overview and Initial Results
• The Magellanic Clouds Photometric Survey: The Large Magellanic Cloud Stellar Catalog and Extinction Map
• CSI 2264: Simultaneous optical and infrared light curves of young disk-bearing stars in NGC 2264 with CoRoT and Spitzer-- evidence for multiple origins of variability
• The Magellanic Clouds Photometric Survey: The Small Magellanic Cloud Stellar Catalog and Extinction Map
• Interstellar Extinction Law toward the Galactic Center III: J, H, Ks bands in the 2MASS and the MKO systems, and 3.6, 4.5, 5.8, 8.0 micron in the Spitzer/IRAC system
• The VMC Survey - I. Strategy and First Data
• Near-Infrared Photometric Variability of Stars Toward the Orion A Molecular Cloud
• New Period-Luminosity and Period-Color Relations of Classical Cepheids: I. Cepheids in the Galaxy
• YSOVAR: the first sensitive, wide-area, mid-IR photometric monitoring of the ONC
• The Visible and Infrared Survey Telescope for Astronomy (VISTA): Design, Technical Overview and Performance
• Eclipses by circumstellar material in the T Tauri star AA Tau. II. Evidence for non-stationary magnetospheric accretion
• The VISTA Science Archive
• Catalog of Galactic Beta Cephei Stars
• Evidence for a correlation between mass accretion rates onto young stars and the mass of their protoplanetary disks
• Clustering of Local Group distances: publication bias or correlated measurements? I. The Large Magellanic Cloud
• On the Effect of Rotation on Populations of Classical Cepheids II. Pulsation Analysis for Metallicities 0.014, 0.006, and 0.002
• High and Intermediate-Mass Young Stellar Objects in the Large Magellanic Cloud
• RR Lyrae stars as standard candles in the Gaia Data Release 2 Era
• The VISTA ZYJHKs Photometric System: Calibration from 2MASS
• The CIDA Variability Survey of Orion OB1. I: the low-mass population of Ori OB 1a and 1b
• Metallicity, planet formation, and disc lifetimes
• The VMC Survey - XIV. First results on the look-back time star-formation rate tomography of the Small Magellanic Cloud
• The VMC Survey IV. The LMC star formation history and disk geometry from four VMC tiles
• The Instability Strip for Pre--Main-Sequence Stars
• Comparative performance of selected variability detection techniques in photometric time series
• Young Stellar Object Variability (YSOVAR): Long Timescale Variations in the Mid-Infrared
• A population of eruptive variable protostars in VVV
• Interstellar H I and H_2 in the Magellanic Clouds: An Expanded Sample Based on UV Absorption-Line Data
• Infrared spectroscopy of eruptive variable protostars from VVV
• The Evolution of Massive YSOs in the LMC: Part I. Identification and Spectral Classification
• The VMC Survey. V. First results for Classical Cepheids
• Photometric metallicity map of the Large Magellanic Cloud
• Short Lifetime of Protoplanetary Disks in Low-metallicity Environments
• The SAGE-Spec Spitzer Legacy program: The life-cycle of dust and gas in the Large Magellanic Cloud. Point source classification III
• Photometric determination of the mass accretion rates of pre-main sequence stars. II. NGC346 in the Small Magellanic Cloud
• Variable Evolved Stars and YSOs Discovered in the Large Magellanic Cloud using the SAGE Survey
• Hubble Tarantula Treasury Project. IV. The extinction law
• Photometric metallicity map of the Small Magellanic Cloud
• Eruptive Variable Stars and Outflows in Serpens NW
• Variability of Massive Stars with Known Spectral Types in the Small Magellanic Cloud Using 8 Years of OGLE-III Data
• Disk-Related Bursts and Fades in Young Stars
• Near-Infrared Variability in the Orion Nebula Cluster
• Gravitational instabilities in a protosolar-like disc I: dynamics and chemistry
• Photometric determination of the mass accretion rate of pre-main sequence stars. IV. Recent star formation in NGC 602
• Photometric determination of the mass accretion rates of pre-main sequence stars. III. Results in the Large Magellanic Cloud
• On the Recovery of the Star Formation History of the LMC from the VISTA Survey of the Magellanic System
• Near-infrared Variability among YSOs in the Star Formation Region Cygnus OB7
• Extreme infrared variables from UKIDSS - II. an end-of-survey catalogue of eruptive YSOs and unusual stars
• Extreme Infrared Variables from UKIDSS - I. A Concentration in Star Forming Regions
• $K$-band integral field spectroscopy and optical spectroscopy of massive young stellar objects in the Small Magellanic Cloud
• The VISTA Orion mini-survey: star formation in the Lynds 1630 North cloud
• The VMC Survey - VI. Quasars behind the Magellanic system
• YSOVAR: mid-infrared variability of young stellar objects and their disks in the cluster IRAS 20050+2720
• Low-metallicity Young Clusters in the Outer Galaxy I. Sh 2-207
• Integral Field Spectroscopy of Massive Young Stellar Objects in the N113 H\,{\sc ii} Region in the Large Magellanic Cloud
• The VMC Survey. II. A multi-wavelength study of LMC planetary nebulae and their mimics
• MOST photometry of the enigmatic PMS pulsator HD 142666
• The VMC Survey -- XXXV. Model fitting of LMC Cepheid light curves
• New quasars behind the Magellanic Clouds. Spectroscopic confirmation of near-infrared selected candidates
• The VMC Survey - XX. Identification of new Cepheids in the Small Magellanic Cloud
• Photometric variability of massive young stellar objects. I
• Young Stellar Clusters Containing Massive Young Stellar Objects in the VVV Survey
• A new C-D-like diagram for SPB stars: The variations of period spacing as a signature of evolutionary status
• The VMC Survey - XXXII. Pre-main sequence populations in the Large Magellanic Cloud

Cited by in corpus (3)

• The VMC Survey -- XXXVII. Pulsation periods of dust enshrouded AGB stars in the Magellanic Clouds
• The VMC survey -- LIV. The internal kinematics of the LMC with new VISTA observations
• The VMC survey -- LIII. Data release #7. Complete survey data and data from additional programmes