J/ApJS/279/56 Periodic variable stars in the LMC with JWST/NIRCam (Wang+, 2025)
A search of periodic variable stars in the LMC by JWST photometry.
Wang J., Chen X., Zhang J., Yan Z., Wang S., Deng L.
<Astrophys. J. Suppl. Ser., 279, 56 (2025)>
=2025ApJS..279...56W 2025ApJS..279...56W
ADC_Keywords: Stars, variable; Photometry, infrared; Binaries, eclipsing;
Magellanic Clouds
Keywords: Periodic variable stars ; James Webb Space Telescope ;
Large Magellanic Cloud ; Eclipsing binary stars ;
Delta Scuti variable stars ; RR Lyrae variable stars
Abstract:
Based on high-resolution near-infrared photometric data from the James
Webb Space Telescope (JWST) targeting the Large Magellanic Cloud, this
study attempts to evaluate the feasibility and sensitivity limits of
variable star detection in crowded stellar fields. Through light-curve
analysis, we identified a total of 304 periodic variable stars,
including 71 EW-type eclipsing binaries, 7 EA-type eclipsing binaries,
177 rotational variables, 38 δ Scuti (DSCT) stars, and 12 RR
Lyrae stars. Period-luminosity relations (PLRs) were derived for
EW-type eclipsing binaries, DSCT stars, and RR Lyrae stars. The PLRs
for EW-type and RR Lyrae stars are in good agreement with previous
studies, while the PLR zero-point for DSCT stars appears
systematically fainter by approximately 0.15-0.30 mag. Our PLRs
exhibit low dispersion and are minimally affected by crowding. We
analyzed the capability of JWST archival data to detect low-amplitude
variables and found that only stars with amplitudes greater than
approximately 0.05 mag can be reliably detected. Through simulations,
we quantified how increasing the number of photometric epochs improves
the detectability of low-amplitude, low signal-to- noise ratio
variables. Despite current limitations in observational cadence, JWST
demonstrates unique advantages in detecting short-period eclipsing
binaries, rotational variables, and high-amplitude pulsators. Its
exceptional spatial resolution enables high-precision PLR
calibrations, offering new opportunities for future studies in
variable star astrophysics and extragalactic distance measurements.
Description:
The survey region encompasses the combined coverage of multiple
JWST/NIRCam observational programs (program IDs: 1069, 1072, 1073,
1074, 1473, 1476, 1477, 4447, and 6627) in six filters (F070W, F150W,
F200W, F277W, F356W, and F444W) whose central coordinates lie within a
3' radius centered at RAJ2000=80.49031°,DEJ2000=-69.498156°.
Figure 1 illustrates the primary region analyzed in this study,
highlighting the densely populated stellar field in the LMC.
Some of the data used in this study were obtained from the Mikulski
Archive for Space Telescopes at doi:10.17909/p2pc-g715.
File Summary:
--------------------------------------------------------------------------------
FileName Lrecl Records Explanations
--------------------------------------------------------------------------------
ReadMe 80 . This file
table1.dat 221 304 LMC periodic variable star catalog based on JWST
table2.dat 60 31468 Raw photometric data by JWST
--------------------------------------------------------------------------------
See also:
II/375 : VISTA Magellanic Survey (VMC) catalog (YJKs) DR6 (Cioni+, 2011)
II/351 : VISTA Magellanic Survey (VMC) catalog (Cioni+, 2011)
II/366 : ASAS-SN catalog of variable stars (Jayasinghe+, 2018-2020)
J/AJ/138/1243 : The star formation history of the LMC (Harris+, 2009)
J/AJ/146/101 : LINEAR. III. Catalog of periodic variables (Palaversa+, 2013)
J/AcA/66/131 : VI light curves of SMC and LMC RR Lyrae (Soszynski+, 2016)
J/ApJ/859/140 : Multi-band magnitudes for W UMa EB* candidates (Chen+, 2018)
J/ApJS/237/28 : WISE catalog of periodic variable stars (Chen+, 2018)
J/A+A/630/A92 : The Hubble Catalog of Variables (Bonanos+, 2019)
J/ApJS/249/18 : The ZTF catalog of periodic variable stars (Chen+, 2020)
J/ApJS/252/23 : Reddening map of MCs from OGLE-IV RC stars (Skowron+, 2021)
J/MNRAS/517/484 : JWST NIRCam photometry of M 92 stars (Nardiello+, 2022)
J/A+A/674/A18 : Gaia DR3. The RR Lyrae sample (Clementini+, 2023)
J/AcA/73/105 : OGLE delta Scuti stars in LMC (Soszynski+, 2023)
J/ApJ/946/43 : Spectroscopic RSG stars in MCs from APOGEE+Gaia (Wang+, 2023)
J/ApJS/276/57 : Classif. of periodic variable stars from TESS (Gao+, 2025)
Byte-by-byte Description of file: table1.dat
--------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Bytes Format Units Label Explanations
--------------------------------------------------------------------------------
1- 3 I3 --- Seq [1/304] Running sequence number
5- 12 F8.5 deg RAdeg [80.36/80.6] Right Ascension (J2000)
14- 23 F10.6 deg DEdeg [-69.54/-69.46] Declination (J2000)
25- 30 F6.3 mag F150W [17.86/24.82] Mean Magnitude in F150W
32- 37 F6.3 mag e_F150W [0.001/0.03] Estimated uncertainty of the
average magnitude in F150W
39- 44 F6.3 mag s_F150W [0.02/0.3] Magnitude Standard Deviation in F150W
46- 50 F5.1 --- S/N [9.4/460.2] Signal
52- 56 F5.2 --- Chi2 [0.36/1.35] Chi-square value
58- 62 F5.2 --- Sharp [-0.05/0.03] Sharpness
64- 68 F5.2 --- Round [0.01/0.4] Roundness
70- 74 F5.2 --- Crowd [0.01/0.26] Crowding
76- 77 I2 --- Np [20/61] Photometric data point count
79- 88 F10.7 d Per [0.05/3.6] Best period from Lomb-Scargle
90- 98 E9.1 --- FAP [1.6e-24/9.8e-06] False alarm probability
100- 105 F6.3 mag Amp [0.049/0.85] Total variability amplitude
107- 112 F6.3 --- LSpow [0.579/0.98] Maximum Lomb-Scargle power
114- 119 F6.3 --- RMSE [0.005/0.081] Root mean squared error
121- 126 F6.3 --- R2 [0.61/0.99] R-squared
128- 132 A5 --- Mult Multi-band data verification (False or True)
134- 137 A4 --- Type Variability type (1)
139- 144 F6.3 --- R21 [0.006/0.63]? Fourier parameter R21
146- 151 F6.3 --- phi21 [1/2.98] Fourier φ21(π)
153- 158 F6.3 mag F070W [17.88/26.69]? Mean magnitude in JWST/NIRCam
F070W
160- 165 F6.3 mag e_F070W [0.004/0.25]? Error of magnitude in F070W
167- 172 F6.3 mag F200W [17.85/24.42]? Mean magnitude in JWST/NIRCam
F200W
174- 179 F6.3 mag e_F200W [0.004/0.15]? Error of magnitude in F200W
181- 186 F6.3 mag F277W [17.82/24.16]? Mean magnitude in JWST/NIRCam
F277W
188- 193 F6.3 mag e_F277W [0.004/0.22]? Error of magnitude in F277W
195- 200 F6.3 mag F356W [17.8/23.75]? Mean magnitude in JWST/NIRCam
F356W
202- 207 F6.3 mag e_F356W [0.004/0.2]? Error of magnitude in F356W
209- 214 F6.3 mag F444W [17.76/23.07]? Mean magnitude in JWST/NIRCam
F444W
216- 221 F6.3 mag e_F444W [0.004/0.2]? Error of magnitude in F444W
--------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Note (1): Variability type as follows:
ROT = Rotational variables (178 occurrences)
EW = EW-type eclipsing binaries (71 occurrences)
DSCT = δ Scuti stars (37 occurrences)
RR = RR Lyrae stars (12 occurrences)
EA = EA-type eclipsing binaries (6 occurrences)
--------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Byte-by-byte Description of file: table2.dat
--------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Bytes Format Units Label Explanations
--------------------------------------------------------------------------------
1- 3 I3 --- Seq [1/304] Running sequence number
5- 14 F10.5 deg RAdeg [80.36/80.6] Right Ascension (J2000)
16- 25 F10.6 deg DEdeg [-69.54/-69.46] Declination (J2000)
27- 32 A6 --- Filter Filter name (e.g., F070W)
34- 39 F6.3 mag mag [17.65/26.8] Observed magnitude
41- 46 F6.3 mag e_mag [0.001/0.22] Magnitude uncertainty
48- 60 F13.7 d MJD [59671.23/60625.16] Observation time in MJD
--------------------------------------------------------------------------------
History:
From electronic version of the journal
(End) Prepared by [AAS], Emmanuelle Perret [CDS] 16-Mar-2026