Variability of young massive stars in the Galactic super star cluster Westerlund 1

This paper presents the first optical variability study of the Westerlund 1 super star cluster in search of massive eclipsing binary systems. A total of 129 new variable stars have been identified, including the discovery of 4 eclipsing binaries that are cluster members, 1 additional candidate, 8 field binaries, 19 field delta Scuti stars, 3 field W UMa eclipsing binaries, 13 other periodic variables, and 81 long-period or nonperiodic variables. These include the known luminous blue variable, the B[ e] star, 11 Wolf-Rayet stars, several supergiants, and other reddened stars that are likely members of Westerlund 1. The bright X-ray source corresponding to the Wolf-Rayet star WR 77o ( B) is found to be a 3.51 day eclipsing binary. The discovery of a reddened detached eclipsing binary system implies the first identification of main-sequence stars in Westerlund 1.