ATLAS all-sky stellar ref. catalog, ATLAS-REFCAT2

Its data are also used to search for photometric variability, where sensitivity to variability is limited by photometric accuracy. Since each exposure spans 7.6{deg} corner to corner, variations in atmospheric transparency in excess of 0.01mag are common, and 0.01mag photometry cannot be achieved by using a constant flat-field calibration image.

We therefore have assembled an all-sky reference catalog of approximately one billion stars to m~19 from a variety of sources to calibrate each exposure's astrometry and photometry. Gaia DR2 is the source of astrometry for this ATLAS Refcat2. The sources of g, r, i, and z photometry include Pan-STARRS DR1, the ATLAS Pathfinder photometry project, ATLAS reflattened APASS data, SkyMapper DR1, APASS DR9, the Tycho-2 catalog, and the Yale Bright Star Catalog.