Young stars variability with Gaia DR3 light curves

We adapted the Q-M method for Gaia. Through a refined sample selection, we identified sources with an appropriate sampling for the Q-M method. We used the generalised Lomb Scargle periodogram and structure functions to derive characteristic variability timescales.

We successfully derived Q-M indices for 23000 sources in the GDR3 YSO sample. These variables were then classified into eight variability morphological classes. We linked the morphological classes with physical mechanisms using H{alpha} as a proxy of accretion and {alpha}IR indices to gauge whether circumstellar material was present.

We demonstrate that the Q-M metrics can be successfully applied to study the sparse time series of Gaia. We applied it successfully to distinguish between the various variability modes of YSOs. While our results are generally consistent with previous high-cadence short-term studies, the long GDR3 time span yields a larger variety of variability mechanisms.