Mid-InfraRed Outburst in Nearby Galaxies (MIRONG) I: Sample Selection and Characterization

Understand

The optical time-domain astronomy has grown rapidly in the past decade but the dynamic infrared sky is rarely explored.

• Aiming to construct a sample of mid-infrared outburst in nearby galaxies (MIRONG), we have conducted a systematical search of low-redshift ($z<0.35$) SDSS spectroscopic galaxies that have experienced recent MIR flares using their Wide-field Infrared Survey Explorer (WISE) light curves.
• A total of 137 galaxies have been selected by requiring a brightening amplitude of 0.5 magnitude in at least one WISE band with respect to their quiescent phases.
• Only a small faction (10.9%) has corresponding optical flares.