The time-variable ultraviolet sky: Active galactic nuclei, stars, and white dwarfs

Abstract

Here, we present the first catalog of Ultraviolet time-VAriable sources (1UVA). We describe a new analysis pipeline called VAriable Source Clustering Analysis (VASCA). We applied this pipeline to ten years of data from the Galaxy Evolution Explorer (GALEX) satellite. We analyzed a sky area $ deg ^2$, and detected 4,202 time-variable ultraviolet (UV) sources. We cross-correlated these sources with multi-frequency data from the Gaia satellite and the Set of Identifications, Measurements and Bibliography for Astronomical Data (SIMBAD) database, finding an association for 3,655 sources. The source sample was dominated by active galactic nuclei ( percent ) and stars ( percent ). We examined the UV and multi-frequency properties of these sources, focusing on the stellar population. We found UV variability for four white dwarfs (WDs). One of them, WD J004917.14-252556.81, was recently found to be the most massive pulsating WD. Its spectral energy distribution shows no sign of a stellar companion. The observed flux variability was unexpected and difficult to explain.