Large Magellanic Cloud Near-infrared Synoptic Survey. IV. Leavitt Laws for Type II Cepheid Variables
- Department of Physics and Astrophysics, University of Delhi, Delhi 110007 (India)
- Mitchell Institute for Fundamental Physics and Astronomy, Department of Physics and Astronomy, Texas A and M University, College Station, TX 77843 (United States)
- European Southern Observatory, Karl-Schwarzschild-Straße 2, D-85748, Garching (Germany)
- State University of New York, Oswego, NY 13126 (United States)
- Graduate Institute of Astronomy, National Central University, Jhongli 32001, Taiwan (China)
We present time-series observations of Population II Cepheids in the Large Magellanic Cloud at near-infrared (JHK {sub s}) wavelengths. Our sample consists of 81 variables with accurate periods and optical (VI) magnitudes from the OGLE survey, covering various subtypes of pulsators (BL Herculis, W Virginis, and RV Tauri). We generate light-curve templates using high-quality I-band data in the LMC from OGLE and K {sub s}-band data in the Galactic bulge from VISTA Variables in Via Láctea survey and use them to obtain robust mean magnitudes. We derive period–luminosity (P–L) relations in the near-infrared and Period–Wesenheit (P–W) relations by combining optical and near-infrared data. Our P–L and P–W relations are consistent with published work when excluding long-period RV Tauris. We find that Pop II Cepheids and RR Lyraes follow the same P–L relations in the LMC. Therefore, we use trigonometric parallax from the Gaia DR1 for VY Pyx and the Hubble Space Telescope parallaxes for k Pav and 5 RR Lyrae variables to obtain an absolute calibration of the Galactic K {sub s}-band P–L relation, resulting in a distance modulus to the LMC of μ{sub LMC}=18.54±0.08 mag. We update the mean magnitudes of Pop II Cepheids in Galactic globular clusters using our light-curve templates and obtain distance estimates to those systems, anchored to a precise late-type eclipsing binary distance to the LMC. We find that the distances to these globular clusters based on Pop II Cepheids are consistent (within 2σ) with estimates based on the M{sub V}-[Fe/H] relation for horizontal branch stars.
- OSTI ID:
- 22863110
- Journal Information:
- The Astronomical Journal (Online), Vol. 153, Issue 4; Other Information: Country of input: International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA); ISSN 1538-3881
- Country of Publication:
- United States
- Language:
- English
Similar Records
The MACHO Project Large Magellanic Cloud Variable Star Inventory. XIII. Fourier Parameters for the First Overtone RR Lyrae Variables and the LMC Distance
New near-infrared period–luminosity–metallicity relations for RR Lyrae stars and the outlook for GAIA