Related papers: Globular Cluster Distances from RR Lyrae Stars
RR Lyrae variables and the stellar constituents of globular clusters are employed to establish the cosmic distance scale and age of the universe. However, photometry for RR Lyrae variables in the globular clusters M3, M15, M54, M92,…
The luminosities of globular clusters are found to correlate with their half-light radii. The most luminous clusters have half-light radii r ~ 3 pc. Mean cluster luminosities are < Mv > = -6.64 +/- 0.26 for r < 2.0, < Mv > = -7.44 +/- 0.20…
Context: The distance to the Galactic Centre (GC) is of importance for the distance scale in the Universe. The value derived by Eisenhauer et al. (2005) of 7.62 +- 0.32 kpc based on the orbit of one star around the central black hole is…
The average of 14 recent measurements of the distance to the Large Magellanic Cloud (LMC) implies a true modulus of 18.50 +- 0.02 mag, and demonstrates a trend in the past 2 years of convergence toward a standard value. The distance…
We characterize the absolute magnitudes and colors of RR Lyrae stars in the globular cluster M5 in the ugriz filter system of the Dark Energy Camera (DECam). We provide empirical Period-Luminosity (P-L) relationships in all 5 bands based on…
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 use theoretical models to establish a tight relationship for the absolute magnitudes of RR Lyrae stars as a function of their periods and Stroemgren pseudo-color c_0 = (u-v)_0 - (v-b)_0. Applying this to RR Lyr, and comparing the result…
We present a comprehensive photometric study of RR Lyrae stars in the M3 globular cluster, utilising a vast dataset of 3140 optical ($UBVRI$) CCD images spanning 35 years from astronomical data archives. We have successfully identified…
We present near-infrared J,H, and K-band time series observations of the Galactic Globular Cluster (GGC) M92. On the basis of these data, we derived well-sampled light curves for eleven out of the seventeen cluster RR Lyrae variables, and…
A search for variable stars in the globular cluster NGC 288 was carried out using a time-series of CCD images in the $V$ and $I$ filters. The photometry of all stellar sources in the field of view of our images, down to $V\approx19$ mag,…
We report the distance and [Fe/H] value for the globular cluster NGC 5904 (M5) derived from the Fourier decomposition of the light curves of selected RRab and RRc stars. The aim in doing this was to bring these parameters into the…
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…
We present new spatial models and distance estimates for globular clusters (GC) and dwarf spheroidals (dSphs) orbiting our Galaxy based on RR Lyrae (RRab) stars in the Pan-STARRS1 (PS1) 3$\pi$ survey. Using the PS1 sample of RRab stars from…
The LM method, designed to exploit the Hipparcos data to obtain luminosity calibrations, is applied to derive luminosity calibrations for RR Lyrae and classical Cepheids. From these calibrations the distance to the Large Magellanic Cloud…
We present infrared JHK time series photometry of the variable star RR Lyr, that allow us to construct the first complete and accurate infrared light curves for this star. The derived mean magnitudes are <J>=6.74 +/- 0.02, <H>=6.60 +/- 0.03…
We present new observational results on the RR Lyrae K-band Period-Luminosity relation (PLK). Data on the Galactic globular clusters NGC 3201 and NGC 4590 (M68), and on the Large Magellanic Cloud cluster Reticulum are shown. We compare the…
We have calculated the physical parameters of the RR Lyrae stars in the globular cluster NGC~4147 via the Fourier decomposition of their light curves, using new data and well-established semi-empirical calibrations and zero points. The mean…
We have obtained deep infrared $J$ and $K$ band observations of five fields located in the Large Magellanic Cloud (LMC) bar with the ESO New Technology Telescope equipped with the SOFI infrared camera. In our fields, 65 RR Lyrae stars…
We have derived accurate distances to Galactic globular clusters by combining data from the Gaia Early Data Release 3 with distances based on Hubble Space telescope HST data and literature based distances. We determine distances either…
The distance to the Galactic center inferred from OGLE RR Lyrae variables observed in the direction of the bulge is Ro=8.1+-0.6 kpc. An accurate determination of Ro is hindered by countless effects that include an ambiguous extinction law,…