Related papers: The distance to the Galactic Centre based on Popul…

Recent estimates of the Cepheid distance modulus of NGC 6822 differ by 0.18 mag. To investigate this we present new multi-epoch JHKs photometry of classical Cepheids in the central region of NGC 6822 and show that there is a zero-point…

A catalog of Cepheid variables is used to probe the kinematics of the Galactic disk. Radial velocities are measured for eight distant Cepheids toward l = 300; these new Cepheids provide a particularly good constraint on the distance to the…

The most common methods to derive the distance to globular clusters using RR Lyrae variables are reviewed, with a special attention to those that have experienced significant improvement in the past few years. From the weighted average of…

We review the use of Cepheids as distance indicators with particular emphasis on the methods which have been applied to HST observations of Cepheids. The calibration of the period-luminosity relations is examined in detail and we identify…

Mira variables are useful distance indicators, due to their high luminosities and well-defined period-luminosity relation. We select 1863 Miras from SAAO and MACHO observations to examine their use as distance estimators in the Milky Way.…

That the RR Lyrae star period -- K-band luminosity relation is a promising tool as a distance indicator in the Milky Way and Local Group of Galaxies is apparent on observational and theoretical grounds in the literature. Less clear is the…

We present I-band light curves of 54 Population II Cepheids identified in the OGLE-II catalog of variable objects in the Galactic bulge fields. Their periods range from a fraction of a day to several days. Their light curves show very close…

A Cepheid-based calibration is derived for four distance indicators that utilize stars in the old stellar populations: the tip of the red giant branch (TRGB), the planetary nebula luminosity function (PNLF), the globular cluster luminosity…

The Period - metallicity - K band luminosity (PLK) relation for RR Lyrae stars in 15 Galactic globular clusters and in the LMC globular cluster Reticulum has been derived. It is based on accurate near infrared (K) photometry combined with…

In this paper, we recalibrate the Cepheid distance to some nearby galaxies observed by the HST Key Project (KP) and the Sandage-Tammann-Saha (STS) group. We use much of the KP methodology in our analysis but apply new techniques, based on…

We present a 0.16% precise and 0.27% accurate determination of R0, the distance to the Galactic Center. Our measurement uses the star S2 on its 16-year orbit around the massive black hole Sgr A* that we followed astrometrically and…

Using Spitzer observations of classical Cepheids we have measured the true average distance modulus of the SMC to be $18.96 \pm 0.01_{stat} \pm 0.03_{sys}$ mag (corresponding to $62 \pm 0.3$ kpc), which is $0.48 \pm 0.01$ mag more distant…

The present status of the distance scale to Galactic globular clusters is reviewed. Six distance determination techniques which are deemed to be most reliable are discussed in depth. These different techniques are used to calibrate the…

Classical Cepheid and RR Lyrae variables are radially pulsating stars that trace young and old-age stellar populations, respectively. These classical pulsating stars are the most sensitive probes for the precision stellar astrophysics and…

We have analyzed a sample of 27,258 fundamental-mode RR Lyrae variable stars (type RRab) detected recently toward the Galactic bulge by the Optical Gravitational Lensing Experiment (OGLE) survey. The data support our earlier claim that…

By using the same algorithm in the Baade-Wesselink analyses of Galactic RR Lyrae and Cepheid variables, it is shown that, within 0.03 mag (1 sigma) statistical error, they yield the same distance modulus for the Large Magellanic Cloud. By…

The RR Lyrae distance scale is reviewed. In particular, we discuss theoretical and empirical methods currently adopted in the literature. Moreover, we also outline pros and cons of optical and near-infrared mean magnitudes to overcome some…

We have applied the infrared surface brightness (ISB) technique to derive distances to 13 Cepheids in the LMC which span a period range from 3 to 42 days. From the absolute magnitudes of the variables calculated from these distances, we…

We derive individual distances to six Cepheids in the young populous star cluster NGC1866 in the Large Magellanic Cloud employing the near-IR surface brightness technique. With six stars available at the exact same distance we can directly…

The Galactic bulge and bar are critical to our understanding of the Milky Way. However, due to the lack of reliable stellar distances, the structure and kinematics of the bulge/bar beyond the Galactic center have remained largely…