Optical Variability of Stars in the LMC

The majority of stars in the galaxy have constant properties for most of their lives; however, some stars vary constantly over a period of days, weeks, months, or even up to a year. Understanding how these variable stars are changing over time can help enhance the understanding of how stars in the universe evolve throughout their lifespan. By using both the infrared data collected from the nearby Large Magellanic Cloud by the SAGE survey, with two separate data epochs taken three months apart, and the optical data from the MACHO survey, with data taken from over eight years, more may be able to be understood about these varying stars.