@article{ddde29156c7446018d941255a14a9bbb,
title = "The VVV Templates Project Towards an automated classification of VVV light-curves: I. Building a database of stellar variability in the near-infrared",
abstract = "Context. The Vista Variables in the V{\'i}a L{\'a}ctea (VVV) ESO Public Survey is a variability survey of the Milky Way bulge and an adjacent section of the disk carried out from 2010 on ESO Visible and Infrared Survey Telescope for Astronomy (VISTA). The VVV survey will eventually deliver a deep near-IR atlas with photometry and positions in five passbands (ZYJHK S) and a catalogue of 1-10 million variable point sources - mostly unknown - that require classifications. Aims. The main goal of the VVV Templates Project, which we introduce in this work, is to develop and test the machine-learning algorithms for the automated classification of the VVV light-curves. As VVV is the first massive, multi-epoch survey of stellar variability in the near-IR, the template light-curves that are required for training the classification algorithms are not available. In the first paper of the series we describe the construction of this comprehensive database of infrared stellar variability. Methods. First, we performed a systematic search in the literature and public data archives; second, we coordinated a worldwide observational campaign; and third, we exploited the VVV variability database itself on (optically) well-known stars to gather high-quality infrared light-curves of several hundreds of variable stars. Results. We have now collected a significant (and still increasing) number of infrared template light-curves. This database will be used as a training-set for the machine-learning algorithms that will automatically classify the light-curves produced by VVV. The results of such an automated classification will be covered in forthcoming papers of the series.",
keywords = "Stars, Surveys, Techniques, general, photometric, variables",
author = "R. Angeloni and {Contreras Ramos}, R. and M. Catelan and I. D{\'e}k{\'a}ny and F. Gran and J. Alonso-Garc{\'i}a and M. Hempel and C. Navarrete and H. Andrews and A. Aparicio and Beam{\'i}n, {J. C.} and C. Berger and J. Borissova and {Contreras Pe{\~n}a}, C. and A. Cunial and {De Grijs}, R. and N. Espinoza and S. Eyheramendy and {Ferreira Lopes}, {C. E.} and M. Fiaschi and G. Hajdu and J. Han and He{\l}miniak, {K. G.} and A. Hempel and Hidalgo, {S. L.} and Y. Ita and Jeon, {Y. B.} and A. Jord{\'a}n and J. Kwon and Lee, {J. T.} and Mart{\'i}n, {E. L.} and N. Masetti and N. Matsunaga and Milone, {A. P.} and D. Minniti and L. Morelli and F. Murgas and T. Nagayama and C. Navarro and P. Ochner and P. P{\'e}rez and K. Pichara and A. Rojas-Arriagada and J. Roquette and Saito, {R. K.} and A. Siviero and J. Sohn and Sung, {H. I.} and M. Tamura and R. Tata and L. Tomasella and B. Townsend and P. Whitelock",
note = "Funding Information: This project is supported by the Ministry for the Economy, Development, and Tourism{\textquoteright}s Programa Iniciativa Cient{\'i}fica Milenio through grant IC 120009, awarded to the Millennium Institute of Astrophysics (MAS), by Proyecto Basal PFB-06/2007, and also by the IAC and by the Ministry of Science and Competitiveness of the Kingdom of Spain (grant AYA2010-16717). M.C., I.D., F.G., C.N., and J.A.G. acknowledge support by Proyectos Fondecyt Regulares #1110326, #1130196 and #1141141. M.C., S.E., A.J. and K.P. acknowledge support from the Vicerrector{\'i}a de Investigaci{\'o}n (VRI), Pontificia Universidad Cat{\'o}lica de Chile (Proyecto Investigaci{\'o}n Interdisciplinaria 25/2011). R.C.R. also acknowledges support by Proyecto Fondecyt Postdoctoral #3130320. F.G. also acknowledges support from CONICYT-PCHA Mag{\'i}ster Nacional #2014-22141509. J.A.G. also acknowledges support by Proyecto Fondecyt Postdoctoral #3130552. C.N. also acknowledges financial support from CONYCIT-PCHA/Mag{\'i}ster Nacional #2012-22121934. J.C.B. acknowledges support by CONICYT-PCHA/Doctorado Nacional#2013-21130248. J.B. received support from FONDECYT Regular #1120601. R.d.G. acknowledges research support from the National Natural Science Foundation of China (NSFC) through grant #11373010. C.E.F.L. acknowledges support from CNPq/Brazil through projects 150495/2014-5. K.G.H. acknowledges support provided by the National Astronomical Observatory of Japan as Subaru Astronomical Research Fellow, and by the Polish National Science Center through grant 2011/03/N/ST9/01819. We kindly acknowledge the support provided by Schmidt Telescope (Asiago, Italy) of INAF – Osservatorio Astronomico di Padova (Large program 2012-2013 – P.I. Angeloni). R.K.S. acknowledges support from CNPq/Brazil through projects 310636/2013-2 and 481468/2013-7. P.A.W. thanks the SA NRF for a research grant. This research has made use of the International Variable Star Index (VSX) database, operated at AAVSO, Cambridge, Massachusetts, USA. This research has also made use of the SIMBAD database, operated at CDS, Strasbourg, France.",
year = "2014",
month = jul,
doi = "10.1051/0004-6361/201423904",
language = "English",
volume = "567",
journal = "Astronomy and Astrophysics",
issn = "0004-6361",
publisher = "EDP Sciences",
}