A SCANNED CCD SEARCH FOR CEPHEIDS AND OTHER VARIABLES IN CRUX AND CENTAURUS

We present the results of a photometric survey for variable stars in a 9.4 square degree region along the galactic plane in Crux and Centaurus. A total of 300 308 stars were observed at seven epochs over 42 days; 224 524 of these stars were detected at multiple epochs and were tested for possible variations in brightness that exceed observational error. We identify 2422 stars as variable at a formal confidence level of 99%; 270 of the new variables brighter than I = 14.0 are classified as long period variables. A list of 242 likely short period variables with RMS amplitudes greater-than-or-equal-to 0.m060 is given. From this list, 37 Cepheid candidates were selected after inspection of their light curves.