Preparing the COROT space mission: Building a photometric and variability database of stars in its field of view

Abstract

The CNES/European space mission COROT will monitor asteroseismic targets located in selected fields to probe stellar interiors. Therefore, suitable candidate targets have to be searched for in order to optimize the scientific return of the mission. However, to be able to use the asteroseismic tools on the stars, their physical parameters must be known in advance. In this work, we detail the process of building a photometric database of all the stars brighter than V=8.0 mag in the field of view of COROT and the process of selecting suitable delta Scuti and gamma Dor-type stars for the mission.