Related papers: Young and Intermediate-age Distance Indicators

We propose a new observable for the 21cm global signal during the dark ages, the dark-age consistency ratio, which is motivated from the fact that the shape of the functional form of the brightness temperature against the frequency is…

We present WFPC2 VI photometry of a field in the halo of IC 1613, finding 13 RR Lyraes and 11 Cepheids. Our photometry of the red giant branch tip and red clump is used to derive distances to IC 1613, which are consistent with each other…

Extragalactic Cepheids are the basic rungs of the cosmic distance scale. They are excellent standard candles, although their luminosities and corresponding distance estimates can be affected by the particular properties of the host galaxy.…

Significant progress has been made during the last 10 years toward resolving the debate over the expansion rate of the Universe. The current value of the Hubble parameter, Ho, is now arguably known with an accuracy of 10%, largely due to…

Redshift-independent distances underpin much of astrophysics, and there exists a plethora of methods to estimate them. However, the extent to which the distances they imply are consistent, while crucial for the integrity of the distance…

Globular clusters are among the first objects used to establish the distance scale of the Universe. In the 1970-ies it has been recognized that the differential magnitude distribution of old globular clusters is very similar in different…

A major recent evelopment in observational cosmology has been an accurate measurement of the luminosity distance-redshift relation out to redshifts z=0.8 from Type Ia supernova standard candles. The results have been argued as evidence for…

I list the characteristic features of Globular Cluster (GC) HR diagrams which provide a complete test of the stellar evolution of low mass stars: morphologies describing the different evolutionary phases, number ratios and luminosity…

We examine the overall consistency of the primary distance indicators and ways for a satisfactory resolution of the Cepheid-RR Lyrae zero point discrepancy.

Large-amplitude asymptotic giant branch variables potentially rival Cepheid variables as fundamental calibrators of the distance scale, particularly if observations are made in the infrared, or where there is substantial interstellar…

An analysis of the observed characteristics of the Galactic Cepheid variables is carried out in the framework of their period-luminosity relation being used as a standard candle for distance measurement. The variation of the observed number…

We present recent results concerning distance determinations based on the two most popular primary distance indicators, namely classical Cepheids and RR Lyrae. We discuss the problems affecting the Cepheid distance scale, and in particular…

Over the past decade, supernovae have emerged as some of the most powerful tools for measuring extragalactic distances. A well developed physical understanding of type II supernovae allow them to be used to measure distances independent of…

Determining the sequence of events in the formation of stars and planetary systems and their time-scales is essential for understanding those processes, yet establishing ages is fundamentally difficult because we lack direct indicators. In…

Globular clusters are both primary fossils of galactic evolution and formation and are ideal laboratories for constraining the evolution of low-mass and metal-poor stars. RR Lyrae and type II Cepheid variables are low-mass, radially…

A relation between the variational slope, $s_F$ , and the mean absolute magnitude, $\langle M \rangle$, in the light curves of 58 spectroscopically confirmed quasars is measured with a dispersion of 0.15dex. Assuming it holds for quasars in…

There are two basic ways to measure physical distances in cosmology: One based on standard candles and one based on standard rulers. Comparing current data for each method allows us to rule out axion-photon mixing and dust-extinction as the…

The similarity of the absolute luminosity profiles of Type Ia supernovae (SNIe), as one kind of distance indicator, has led their use in extragalactic astronomy as secondary standard candles. In general, the empirical relationship of SNIa…

The primary distance indicators are established in our Galaxy and the Local Group. There are at least four different methods which give good distances: methods using proper motions, RR Lyraes, Cepheid variables, and Type II supernovae.…

Several standard candles have been tested and used to measure accurate extragalactic distances over the past decades. There have been discussions regarding the possibility of using Type-II Cepheids (T2Cs) as an alternative tool, but rarely…