J/A+A/712/A243 Gaia DR3 variable white dwarfs vetted by ZTF (Jestin+, 2026)
Gaia DR3 variable white dwarfs vetted by ZTF.
Jestin T., Nguyen T.H., Eyer L., Rimoldini L., Mahabal A., Audard M.,
Garcia-Lario P., Gavras P., Nienartowicz K.
<Astron. Astrophys. 712, A243 (2026)>
=2026A&A...712A.243J 2026A&A...712A.243J (SIMBAD/NED BibCode)
ADC_Keywords: Stars, white dwarf ; Stars, variable ; Optical ; Photometry ;
Keywords: methods: observational - catalogs - binaries: general -
stars: general - white dwarfs
Abstract:
The publications of Gaia DR2 and DR3 have brought major improvements
in stellar astrometry and photometry, particularly regarding the
description of the white dwarf sequence. In particular, Gaia DR2
enabled the detection of variability in white dwarfs based solely on
averaged astrometric and photometric quantities, i.e. the astrometric
5 parameters (positions, proper motion, and parallax) and general
photometric properties in the G, BP and RP bands (mean, standard
deviation and number of measurements).
We identify and classify variable white dwarfs using Gaia DR3 data and
Zwicky Transient Facility (ZTF) DR23 observations. The objective is to
construct a catalogue of pulsating white dwarf candidates with robust
selection criteria.
We define a new sample of candidate variable white dwarfs using Gaia
DR3 astrometric and photometric data. We cross-match this sample with
the ZTF DR23 catalogue and apply a multiband Lomb-Scargle periodogram
analysis to detect periodic variability. We then use the OPTICS
unsupervised clustering algorithm to group and classify the confirmed
periodic stars.
We identify 1423 variable white dwarf candidates from Gaia DR3 with an
estimated false-positive rate of 32%. Of the 1423 candidates, 864 have
ZTF time series. Among these, 141 present significant periodicity.
Using unsupervised clustering techniques, we classify these objects
into known categories, including ZZ Ceti stars, V777 Her stars, and
white dwarf-main sequence (WD-MS) binaries. Our analysis reveals
several confirmed periodic stars, including three ZZ Ceti stars, one
V777 Her, and 24 WD-MS binaries. Furthermore, our work reveals a
significant population of potentially variable stars, even though
without detected periodicity. Finally, several variables show unusual
properties and are highlighted for follow-up studies.
Our catalogue of candidate variable white dwarfs includes variability
status, periodicity, and classification information for the 864
sources with ZTF time-series photometry, 519 of them newly identified,
including 67 new periodic stars. It is publicly available through the
VizieR database to support future investigations of white dwarf
variability.
Description:
The 864 ZTF-observed variable candidates, along with their
classifications, frequencies, and amplitudes, are provided in
Table A.1.
File Summary:
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FileName Lrecl Records Explanations
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ReadMe 80 . This file
tablea1.dat 253 864 ZTF-observed variable candidates
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See also:
I/355 : Gaia DR3 Part 1. Main source (Gaia Collaboration, 2022)
J/MNRAS/482/4570 : Gaia DR2 white dwarf candidates (Gentile Fusillo+, 2019)
Byte-by-byte Description of file: tablea1.dat
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Bytes Format Units Label Explanations
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1- 22 A22 --- WDJname WD name (JHHMMSS.ss+DDMMSS.ss),
equinox and epoch 2000
24- 42 A19 --- GaiaDR3 Gaia DR3 source_id (source_id)
44- 58 F15.11 deg RAdeg Gaia DR3 Barycentric right ascension (ICRS)
at Ep=2016.0 (ra)
60- 67 F8.6 mas e_RAdeg Gaia DR3 standard error on right ascension
69- 83 F15.11 deg DEdeg Gaia DR3 Barycentric declination (ICRS)
at Ep=2016.0 (dec)
85- 92 F8.6 mas e_DEdeg Gaia DR3 standard error on declination
(dec_error)
94-100 F7.4 mas plx Gaia DR3 Absolute stellar parallax at
Ep=2016.0 (parallax)
102-107 F6.4 mas e_plx Gaia DR3 parallax error (parallax_error)
109-115 F7.4 mag Gmag Gaia DR3 G-band mean magnitude (Vega)
(photgmean_mag)
117-123 F7.4 mag RPmag Gaia DR3 RP mean magnitude (Vega)
(photrpmean_mag)
125-131 F7.4 mag BPmag Gaia DR3 BP mean magnitude (Vega)
(photbpmean_mag)
133-140 F8.5 mag gmag ZTF DR23 g-band mean magnitude
142-149 F8.5 mag rmag ZTF DR23 r-band mean magnitude
151-155 A5 --- Variable Flag for detected variability
(True = Detected variability)
157-161 A5 --- Periodic Flag for detected periodicity
(True = Detected periodicity)
163-176 F14.10 d-1 Freq Measured frequency in [1/days]
178-188 F11.9 mag gAmp Measured ZTF DR23 g-band variability amplitude
190-200 F11.9 mag rAmp Measured ZTF DR23 r-band variability amplitude
202-220 A19 --- Class Tentative classification with OPTICS
222-253 A32 --- Note Extra notes
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Acknowledgements:
Timour Jestin, timour.jestin(at)epfl.ch
License: CC-BY-4.0
(End) Patricia Vannier [CDS] 20-Jul-2026