2004/02/12 by B. J. Mochejska, K. Z. Stanek, D. D. Sasselov +6 · 3 citations
Physics and Astronomy · #Astro and Planetary Science #Astronomy #Astrophysics #Astrophysics and Star Formation Studies #Open cluster #Photometry (optics) #Physics #Planet #Stars #Stellar, planetary, and galactic studies #Variable star #astro-ph
paper · pdf · doi:10.1086/420992
published as Astron.J. 128 (2004) 312 · 13 pages LaTeX, including 8 figures and 4 tables, submitted to Astronomical Journal. Version with full resolution figures available through ftp at ftp://cfa-ftp.harvard.edu/pub/bmochejs/PISCES/papers/2_N2158/
arxiv created 2004/02/12 · openalex publication_date 2004/07/01 · arxiv updated 2009/12/01 · openalex created_date 2025/10/10 · openalex updated_date 2026/08/05
We have undertaken a long-term project, Planets in Stellar Clusters Extensive Search (PISCES), to search for transiting planets in open clusters. NGC 2158 is one of the targets we have chosen—an intermediate age, populous, rather metal-poor cluster. In this paper we present the results of a search for variable stars in the data from the first season of monitoring at the FLWO 1.2 m telescope. This is the first variability search ever conducted in this cluster. We present a catalog of 57 variable stars, most with low-amplitude variability. Among the variables is a cataclysmic variable (CV) that underwent a 2.5 mag outburst. If it is a member of NGC 2158, this would be the fourth CV known in an open cluster. We have also found five δ Scuti stars, three of which have two or more detectable modes of pulsation. Of the 57 variables discovered, 28 have R -band amplitudes of 5% or below. Six of those vary at or below the 2% level, including one with 0.08% variability.