Related papers: Globular Cluster Distances from RR Lyrae Stars
RR Lyrae pulsating stars have been extensively used as tracers of old stellar populations for the purpose of determining the ages of galaxies, and as tools to measure distances to nearby galaxies. There was accordingly considerable interest…
We analyze in detail various possible sources of systematic errors on the distances of globular clusters derived by fitting a local template DA white dwarf sequence to the cluster counterpart (the so-called WD-fitting technique). We find…
We present measurements of the periods, amplitudes, and types of 74 RR Lyrae stars in the globular cluster M15 derived from Nickel 1 m telescope observations conducted at LickObservatory in 2019 and 2020. Of these RR Lyrae stars, two were…
Population-II pulsating stars provide a route to extragalactic distances that is independent of the classical Cepheid distance scale and complementary to geometric and tip-of-the-red-giant-branch (TRGB) methods. We apply optical Wesenheit…
Horizontal-branch stars play an important role in defining the absolute distance scale in the universe. For that one has to know Mv at relevant B-V with well defined [M/H] for each type of horizontal-branch star. The nature of the…
We review the current status of classical Cepheid and RR Lyrae distance scales. We discuss the most recent theoretical and empirical findings together with pros and cons of different methods. The use of Cepheids and RR Lyrae stars as…
Following an approach developed by Paczy\'nski & Stanek, we derive a distance to the Large Magellanic Cloud (LMC) by comparing red clump stars from the Hipparcos catalog with the red clump stars observed in two fields in the LMC that were…
We present the results from $VI$ CCD time-series photometry of the globular cluster M13 (NGC 6205). From the Fourier decomposition of the light curves of RRab and RRc stars we found an average metallicity of [Fe/H]zw = -1.58 $\pm$ 0.09. The…
Accurate astronomical distance determination is crucial for all fields in astrophysics, from Galactic to cosmological scales. Despite, or perhaps because of, significant efforts to determine accurate distances, using a wide range of…
Measurements of [Fe/H] and radial velocity are presented for 89 RR Lyrae (RRL) candidates within 6 kpc of the Sun. After removal of two suspected non-RRL, these stars were added to an existing database, which yielded 464 RRL with [Fe/H] on…
Variations of ~0.4 mag are expected in the I-band absolute magnitude of red clump giants, M_I^RC, as a function of both stellar age and metallicity. This regardless of some potential theoretical uncertainties. Due to the quite large…
We cross-match objects from several different astronomical catalogs to determine the absolute proper proper motions of stars within the 30-arcmin radius fields of 115 Milky-Way globular clusters with the accuracy of 1--2~mas/yr. The proper…
The distance to LMC and SMC is a subject of controversy, with the difference between the extreme values in distance moduli exceeding 0.5 mag. While currently the best calibrated method is based on red clump giants, and the near future…
We present new time-series CCD photometry, in the B and V bands, for the moderately metal-rich ([Fe/H] ~ -1.3) Galactic globular cluster (GC) M62 (NGC 6266). The present dataset is the largest obtained so far for this cluster, and consists…
We use the method of statistical parallax to constrain the distance-scale zero points and analyze the kinematics of extensive samples of Galactic classical Cepheids, RR Lyrae type variables, and blue horizontal branch stars, which serve as…
We use evolutionary calculations presented in a recent paper (Cassisi et al. 1998) to predict B,V,I magnitudes for stars in galactic globulars. The effect of the adopted mixing length on stellar magnitudes and colors is discussed, showing…
We present an M_V absolute magnitude calibration including the B-V colour and [Fe/H] metallicity for the red clump stars in the globular and open clusters with a wide range of metallicities: M_V =…
We present deep near-infrared photometry and spectroscopy of the globular cluster 2MASS-GC03 projected in the Galactic disk using MMIRS on the Clay telescope (Las Campanas Observatory) and VISTA Variables in the Via Lactea survey (VVV)…
Based on a search of the literature up to May 2001, the number of known variable stars in Galactic globular clusters is approximately 3000. Of these, more than 2200 have known periods and the majority (approximately 1800) are of the RR…
We present a new method for the determination of [Fe/H] for globular clusters. This new method is based on moderate resolution (R~1500) near-IR spectroscopy in the K-band of 6 to 10 of the brightest giants in a cluster. Our calibration is…