New Variables in the Sloan Digital Sky Survey Calibration Fields

The US Naval Observatory 0.2 m Flagstaff Astrometric Scanning Transit Telescope was used to obtain astrometric information in 16 equatorial fields in support of the Sloan Digital Sky Survey. Each field is approximately 7.°6 × 3.°2 in size and was scanned ∼10 times with overlapping CCD strip scans; star positions accurate to ±50 mas in each coordinate and magnitudes good to ±0.011 mag were determined. As an ancillary project, this database was searched for new variables, and the results of that search are presented here. Approximately 1500 new variables have been discovered, and accurate coordinates for ∼100 previously identified variables and suspected variables are given.