Related papers: Is There a Difference in Luminosity between Field …
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 predicted relations connecting pulsational and evolutionary parameters, as based on a wide set of convective pulsating models of RR Lyrae stars with Z=0.001, Y=0.24 and mass and luminosity suitable for the ``old'' (age $>$ 8 Gyr)…
New mid-infrared period-luminosity (PL) relations are presented for \rrl{} variables in the globular cluster M4 (NGC 6121). Accurate photometry was obtained for 37 \rrl{} variables using observations from the Infrared Array Camera onboard…
We present Near-Infrared (NIR) $J$ and $K_s$-band observations for 181 RR Lyrae stars in the Galactic Globular Cluster $\omega$ Cen. The comparison between predicted and empirical slopes of NIR Period-Luminosity (PL) relations indicates a…
BV photometry is presented for 12 RR Lyr variables discovered in the presumably young galactic globular cluster Ruprecht 106. All variables are type RRab, and their periods span a narrow range from 0.574 to 0.652 day. We report also on the…
We discuss the first part of a survey for RR Lyrae variables in the galactic halo that is being made with the 1m Schmidt telescope at the Venezuelan National Observatory. So far the survey has discovered 497 variables in 380 sq. degrees,…
In the context of the luminosity calibration of the nearer stars I discuss the Hipparcos results on distances to nearby OB associations and open clusters. The shortcomings and assumptions in the analyses used to derive these results are…
We present new period-luminosity and period-luminosity-metallicity relations for Galactic RR Lyrae stars based on a sample of 28 pulsators located at distances up to $1.5$ kpc from the Sun. Near-infrared photometry was obtained at the Cerro…
The first calibrated broadband BVI time-series photometry is presented for the variable stars in NGC 2808, with observations spanning a range of twenty-eight years. We have also redetermined the variability types and periods for the…
The cluster and field luminosity functions (LFs) determined on large homogeneous samples (N>2200 galaxies each) are almost indistinguishable, down to M^*+4 in the r and i filters, hence suggesting that the effect of the cluster environment…
We analyze the K band luminosities of a sample of galactic long-period variables using parallaxes measured by the Hipparcos mission. The parallaxes are in most cases re-computed from the Hipparcos Intermediate Astrometric Data using…
We present observations of RR Lyrae variables in the Local Group late-type spiral galaxy M33. Using the Advanced Camera for Surveys on the Hubble Space Telescope, we have identified 64 ab-type RR Lyraes in M33. We have estimated reddenings…
New BVI CCD photometry is presented for 60 RR Lyrae variables in the globular cluster M3. Light curves have been constructed and ephemerides have been (re)-derived for all of them. Four stars (i.e. V29, V136, V155 and V209), although…
Luminosity is an intrinsic property of radio pulsars related to the properties of the magnetospheric plasma and the beam geometry, and inversely proportional to the observing frequency. In traditional models, luminosity has been considered…
We use the results from recent computations of updated non-linear convective pulsating models to constrain the distance modulus of Galactic globular clusters through the observed periods of first overtone RRc pulsators. The resulting…
We present our results of searching for differences in light curves of modulated and non-modulated RRab stars in the Galactic bulge. We examined a sample of more than 8000 stars. The most important results are that Blazhko stars have…
We report an analysis of new $V$ and $I$ CCD time-series photometry of the distant globular cluster NGC 6229. The principal aims were to explore the field of the cluster in search of new variables, and to Fourier decompose the RR Lyrae…
Acquiring near-infrared K-band (2.2 um) photometry for RR Lyrae variables in globular clusters and nearby galaxies is advantageous since the resulting distances are less impacted by reddening and metallicity. However, K-band photometry for…
The tension between the Hipparcos parallax of the Pleiades and other independent distance estimates continues even after the new reduction of the Hipparcos astrometric data and the development of a new geometric distance measurement for the…
A number of recent technical developments, including the Hipparcos satellite, the Hubble Space Telescope fine guidance sensors and long base line near-IR interferometry has made it possible to employ several largely geometrical methods to…