VARIABLE POINT SOURCES IN SLOAN DIGITAL SKY SURVEY STRIPE 82. I. PROJECT DESCRIPTION AND INITIAL CATALOG (0 hr ≤ α ≤ 4 hr)

We report the first results of a study of variable point sources identified using multi-color timeseries photometry from Sloan Digital Sky Survey (SDSS) Stripe 82, including data from the SDSS-II Supernova Survey, over a span of nearly 10 years (1998-2007). We construct a light-curve catalog of 221,842 point sources in the R. A. 0-4 hr half of Stripe 82, limited to r = 22.0 mag, that have at least 10 detections in the ugriz bands and color errors <0.2 mag. These sources are then classified by color and by cross matching them to existing SDSS catalogs of interesting objects. Inhomogeneous ensemble differential photometry techniques are used to greatly improve our sensitivity to variability and reduce contamination by sources that appear variable due to large photometric noise or systematic effects caused by non-uniform photometric conditions throughout the survey. We use robust variable identification methods to extract 6520 variable candidates from this data set, resulting in an overall variable fraction of similar to 2.9% at the level of similar to 0.05 mag variability. Despite the sparse and uneven time sampling of the light-curve data, we discover 143 periodic variables in total. Due to period ambiguity caused by relatively poor phase coverage, we identify a smaller final set of 101 periodic variables with well-determined periods and light curves. Among these are 55 RR Lyrae, 30 eclipsing binary candidates, and 16 high-amplitude Delta Scuti variables. In addition to these objects, we also identify a sample of 2704 variable quasars matched to the SDSS Quasar Catalog, which make up a large fraction of our variable candidates. An additional 2403 quasar candidates are tentatively identified and selected by their non-stellar colors and variability. A sample of 11,328 point sources that appear to be nonvariable given the limits of our variability sensitivity is also briefly discussed. Finally, we describe several interesting objects discovered among our eclipsing binary candidates, and illustrate the use of our publicly available light-curve catalog by tracing Galaxy halo substructure with our small sample of RR Lyrae variables.