Southern near-infrared photometric monitoring of Galactic young star clusters (NIP of Stars)

Abstract

We have performed a near-infrared photometric monitoring of 39 galactic young star clusters and star-forming regions, known as {\em NIP of Stars}, between the years 2009--2011, using the Swope telescope at Las Campanas Observatory (Chile) and the RetroCam camera. The primary objective of the campaign is to perform a census of photometric variability of such clusters and to discover massive eclipsing binary stars. In this work, we describe the general idea, the implementation of the survey, and the first preliminary results of some of the observed clusters. This monitoring program is complementary to the Vista Variables in the V\'ia L\'actea (VVV), as the brightest sources observed in NIP of Stars are saturated in VVV.