Related papers: The RR Lyrae Distance Scale
The kinematical parameters of the local field RR Lyrae population and the zero point of the log P--<M_K> relation for these variables are inferred by applying the statistical parallax (maximum-likelihood) technique to a sample of 182 RR…
We present new BVRI photometry for a sample of 54 local G and K stars with accurate Hipparcos parallaxes in the metallicity range -0.4 < [Fe/H] < +0.3. We use this sample to develop a completely model-independent main sequence (MS) fitting…
We present a careful and detailed light curve analysis of RR Lyrae stars in the Small Magellanic Cloud (SMC) discovered by the Optical Gravitational Lensing Experiment (OGLE) project. Out of 536 single mode RR Lyrae stars selected from the…
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 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…
We present an absolute parallax and relative proper motion for the fundamental distance scale calibrator, RR Lyr. We obtain these with astrometric data from FGS 3, a white-light interferometer on HST. We find $\pi_{abs} = 3.82 \pm 0.2$ mas.…
Probability density functions are determined from new stellar parameters for the distance moduli of stars for which the RAdial Velocity Experiment (RAVE) has obtained spectra with S/N>=10. Single-Gaussian fits to the pdf in distance modulus…
A most desirable feature of a standard candle to estimate astronomical distances is robustness against changes in metallicity and age. It is argued that the radii of main sequence stars with spectral types from solar to A0 show predictable…
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…
We use UCAC4 proper motions and WISE W1-band apparent magnitudes intensity-mean for almost 400 field RR Lyrae variables to determine the parameters of the velocity distribution of Galactic RR Lyrae population and constrain the zero points…
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…
We report the results of CCD V and r photometry of the globular cluster NGC 5466. The difference image analysis technique adopted in this work has resulted in accurate time series photometry even in crowded regions of the cluster enabling…
Interstellar dust presents a significant challenge to extending parallax-determined distances of optically observed pulsational variables to larger volumes. Distance ladder work at mid-infrared wavebands, where dust effects are negligible…
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 report the discovery of 73 double-mode RR Lyrae (RRd) stars in fields near the bar of the LMC. The stars are detected among the MACHO database of short-period variables that currently contains about 7900 RR Lyrae stars. Fundamental…
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…
We review the results on distances and absolute ages of galactic globular clusters (GCs) obtained after the release of the Hipparcos catalogue. Several methods for the Population II local distance scale are discussed, exploiting NEW RESULTS…
RR Lyrae stars are one of the primary distance indicators for old stellar populations such as globular clusters, dwarf galaxies and galaxies. Typically, fundamental-mode RR Lyr stars are used for distance measurements, and their accuracy is…
We present new near-infrared, $JHK_s$, Period--Luminosity relations (PLRs) for RR Lyrae variables in the Messier 53 (M53 or NGC 5024) globular cluster. Multi-epoch $JHK_s$ observations, obtained with the WIRCam instrument on the 3.6-m…
This paper presents results from photometric and statistical-parallax analysis of a sample of 850 field RR Lyrae (RRL) variables. The photometric and spectroscopic data for sample RRLs are obtained from (1) our new spectroscopic…