diff --git a/src/ctfindvar/ctfindvar.cpp b/src/ctfindvar/ctfindvar.cpp
index d7102e7..78b9713 100644
--- a/src/ctfindvar/ctfindvar.cpp
+++ b/src/ctfindvar/ctfindvar.cpp
@@ -472,7 +472,7 @@ void ctfindvar::get_variability_sig(const int& pix_number,
            #ifdef G_DEBUG
            //std::cout << "significance of the bin : " << i << " : " << sig << " - alpha : " << alpha << " - non: " << non << " - noff: " << noff << "- excess: " << non - alpha*noff <<  std::endl;
            #endif
-           if (sig>4.5 ) // if the bin is significant, it is removed from the bckg and we loop again.
+           if (sig>m_sig_threshold ) // if the bin is significant, it is removed from the bckg and we loop again.
            {
                accepted_bin_bckg_vector[i]=0;
                background_validated=false;
@@ -723,6 +723,9 @@ void ctfindvar::get_parameters(void)
     // Get minimum counts for a bin to be considered in Noff calculation
     m_minoff = (*this)["minoff"].real();
 
+    // Get minimum significance to set a source as variable
+    m_sig_threshold = (*this)["sig_thr"].real();
+
     // Write parameters into logger
     log_parameters(TERSE);
 
diff --git a/src/ctfindvar/ctfindvar.hpp b/src/ctfindvar/ctfindvar.hpp
index 792514a..637782f 100644
--- a/src/ctfindvar/ctfindvar.hpp
+++ b/src/ctfindvar/ctfindvar.hpp
@@ -95,6 +95,7 @@ protected:
     GModels  m_inmodel;                //!< List of models for source positions
     GSkyDir  m_max_sig_dir;            //!< Sky direction associated with maximum significance
     double   m_minoff;                 //!< Minimum counts for use in significance calculation
+    double   m_sig_threshold;          //!< Minimum significance required to set source as variable 
     GSkyMap  m_peaksigmap;             //!< Skymap holding the maximum significance
     GNdarray m_pixsigsrc;              //!< Store distributions of the source significances
     GNdarray m_pixsigmax;              //!< Store distribution for pixel with max significance
diff --git a/src/ctfindvar/ctfindvar.par b/src/ctfindvar/ctfindvar.par
index a202e0a..068e872 100644
--- a/src/ctfindvar/ctfindvar.par
+++ b/src/ctfindvar/ctfindvar.par
@@ -25,6 +25,7 @@ prefix,     s, a, findvar_,,, "Prefix for output files"
 minoff,     r, h, 0,,, "Minimum required events in off bin for computing Noff and alpha"
 emin,       r, a, 0,,, "Lower energy limit (units of TeV; 0 => no cut)"
 emax,       r, a, 0,,, "Upper energy limit (units of TeV; 0 => no cut)"
+sig_thr,    r, h, 4.5,,, "Significance threshold for variability detection"
 smoothkrnl, s, h, NONE, GAUSSIAN|DISK|NONE,, "Smoothing kernel for counts maps"
 smoothpar,  r, h, 0.05,,, "Parameter for the smoothing kernel"