Infrared Surface Brightness Technique Research Articles

Infrared surface brightness technique applied to RR Lyrae stars from the solar neighborhood

Context. The Baade-Wesselink (BW) method, also known as the pulsation parallax method, allows us to estimate distances to individual pulsating stars. Accurate geometric parallaxes obtained by the Gaia mission serve us in the calibration of the method and in the determination of its precision. This method also provides a way of determining mean radii of pulsating stars. Aims. The main aim of this work is to determine the scatter and possible dependence of p-factors of RR Lyrae stars on their pulsation periods. The secondary objective is to determine the mean radius-period relations for these stars. Methods. Our calibrations for RR Lyrae stars are based on photometric data gathered at the Cerro Murphy Observatory and parallaxes from the Data Release 3 of the Gaia space mission. We obtained spectroscopic data specifically for this project using high-resolution spectrographs. We used the infrared surface brightness (IRSB) version of the method that relies on a surface brightness-color relation that is dependent on the (V − K) color. It allows us to estimate stellar angular diameters, while tracing variations of the stellar radius using measurements of the stellar radial velocity obtained from spectroscopy. We present results based on four different empirical surface brightness-color relations, with three relations for dwarfs and subgiants and one for classical Cepheids. Results. We present our calibration of projection factors and determination of the mean radii for nine Galactic RR Lyrae stars. We obtained a spread of p-factors of around 0.07–0.08 for our sample of RR Lyrae stars from the solar neighborhood. However, depending on a given SBCR, we also found relations between the p-factor and the pulsation period for RRab stars with a root mean square (rms) scatter around the relation of around 0.05, but with relatively large uncertainty on the relation parameters. We also present relations between the mean radius and period for RR Lyrae pulsating in the fundamental mode with an rms scatter around the relation of 0.012 R⊙. We observe a clear offset between p-factors obtained using the IRSB technique (with a mean p value between 1.39 and 1.45) and values inferred using the SPIPS tool. This confirms that different implementations of the BW method are sensitive to various components of the p-factor. On the other hand, we obtain a similar scatter for p, as observed in a previous study based on the SPIPS tool. Our period-radius relations are in a good agreement with both the inference based on SPIPS and theoretical predictions.

Alessi 95 and the short-period Cepheid SU Cassiopeiae

The parameters for the newly-discovered open cluster Alessi 95 are established on the basis of available photometric and spectroscopic data, in conjunction with new observations. Colour excesses for spectroscopically-observed B and A-type stars near SU Cas follow a reddening relation described by E(U-B)/E(B-V)=0.83+0.02*E(B-V), implying a value of R=Av/E(B-V)~2.8 for the associated dust. Alessi 95 has a mean reddening of E(B-V)_(B0)=0.35+-0.02 s.e., an intrinsic distance modulus of Vo-Mv=8.16+-0.04 s.e. (+-0.21 s.d.), d=429+-8 pc, and an estimated age of 10^8.2 yr from ZAMS fitting of available UBV, CCD BV, NOMAD, and 2MASS JHKs observations of cluster stars. SU Cas is a likely cluster member, with an inferred space reddening of E(B-V)=0.33+-0.02 and a luminosity of <Mv>=-3.15+-0.07 s.e., consistent with overtone pulsation (P_FM=2.75 d), as also implied by the Cepheid's light curve parameters, rate of period increase, and Hipparcos parallaxes for cluster stars. There is excellent agreement of the distance estimates for SU Cas inferred from cluster ZAMS fitting, its pulsation parallax derived from the infrared surface brightness technique, and Hipparcos parallaxes, which all agree to within a few percent.

Calibrating the Cepheid period-luminosity relation from the infrared surface brightness technique

The extragalactic distance scale builds directly on the Cepheid Period-Luminosity (PL) relation as delineated by the sample of Cepheids in the Large Magellanic Cloud (LMC). However, the LMC is a dwarf irregular galaxy, quite different from the massive spiral galaxies used for calibrating the extragalactic distance scale. Recent investigations suggest that not only the zero-point but also the slope of the Milky Way PL relation differ significantly from that of the LMC, casting doubts on the universality of the Cepheid PL relation. We want to make a differential comparison of the PL relations in the two galaxies by delineating the PL relations using the same method, the infrared surface brightness method (IRSB), and the same precepts. The IRSB method is a Baade-Wesselink type method to determine individual distances to Cepheids. We apply a newly revised calibration of the method as described in an accompanying paper (Paper I) to 36 LMC and five SMC Cepheids and delineate new PL relations in the V,I,J, & K bands as well as in the Wesenheit indices in the optical and near-IR. We present 509 new and accurate radial velocity measurements for a sample of 22 LMC Cepheids, enlarging our earlier sample of 14 stars to include 36 LMC Cepheids. The new calibration of the IRSB method is directly tied to the recent HST parallax measurements to ten Milky Way Cepheids, and we find a LMC barycenter distance modulus of 18.45+-0.04 (random error only) from the 36 individual LMC Cepheid distances. We find a significant metallicity effect on the Wvi index gamma(Wvi)=-0.23+-0.10 mag/dex as well as an effect on the slope. The K-band PL relation on the other hand is found to be an excellent extragalactic standard candle being metallicity insensitive in both slope and zero-point and at the same time being reddening insensitive and showing the least internal dispersion.

Calibrating the Cepheid period-luminosity relation from the infrared surface brightness technique

We determine Period-Luminosity relations for Milky Way Cepheids in the optical and near-IR bands. These relations can be used directly as reference for extra-galactic distance determination to Cepheid populations with solar metallicity, and they form the basis for a direct comparison with relations obtained in exactly the same manner for stars in the Magellanic Clouds, presented in an accompanying paper. In that paper we show that the metallicity effect is very small and consistent with a null effect, particularly in the near-IR bands, and we combine here all 111 Cepheids from the Milky Way, the LMC and SMC to form a best relation. We employ the near-IR surface brightness (IRSB) method to determine direct distances to the individual Cepheids after we have recalibrated the projection factor using the recent parallax measurements to ten Galactic Cepheids and the constraint that Cepheid distances to the LMC should be independent of pulsation period. We confirm our earlier finding that the projection factor for converting radial velocity to pulsational velocity depends quite steeply on pulsation period, p=1.550-0.186*log(P) in disagrement with recent theoretical predictions. We delineate the Cepheid PL relation using 111 Cepheids with direct distances from the IRSB analysis. The relations are by construction in agreement with the recent HST parallax distances to Cepheids and slopes are in excellent agreement with the slopes of apparent magnitudes versus period observed in the LMC.

TESTING MASS LOSS IN LARGE MAGELLANIC CLOUD CEPHEIDS USING INFRARED AND OPTICAL OBSERVATIONS. II. PREDICTIONS AND TESTS OF THE OGLE-III FUNDAMENTAL-MODE CEPHEIDS

In this article, we test the hypothesis that Cepheids have infrared excesses due to mass loss. We fit a model using the mass-loss rate and the stellar radius as free parameters to optical observations from the OGLE-III survey and infrared observations from the 2MASS and SAGE data sets. The sample of Cepheids have predicted minimum mass-loss rates ranging from zero to $10^{-8}M_\odot$ $yr^{-1}$, where the rates depend on the chosen dust properties. We use the predicted radii to compute the Period-Radius relation for LMC Cepheids, and to estimate the uncertainty caused by the presence of infrared excess for determining angular diameters with the infrared surface brightness technique. Finally, we calculate the linear and non-linear Period-Luminosity (P-L) relations for the LMC Cepheids at VIJHK + IRAC wavelengths and we find that the P-L relations are consistent with being non-linear at infrared wavelengths, contrary to previous results.

The Angular Size of the Cepheid Carinae: A Comparison of the Interferometric and Surface Brightness Techniques

Recent interferometric observations of the brightest and angularly largest classical Cepheid, l Carinae, with ESO's Very Large Telescope Interferometer have resolved with high precision the variation of its angular diameter with phase. We compare the measured angular diameter curve to the one that we derive by an application of the Baade-Wesselink-type infrared surface brightness technique and find a near-perfect agreement between the two curves. The mean angular diameters of l Car from the two techniques agree very well within their total error bars (1.5%), as do the derived distances (4%). This result is an indication that the calibration of the surface brightness relations used in the distance determination of far-away Cepheids is not affected by large biases.

A Direct Distance to the Large Magellanic Cloud Cepheid HV 12198 from the Infrared Surface Brightness Technique.

We report on the first application of the infrared surface brightness technique on a Cepheid in the Large Magellanic Cloud, the variable HV 12198 in the young globular cluster NGC 1866. From this one star, we determine a distance modulus of 18.42+/-0.10 (random and systematic uncertainty) to the cluster. When the results on further member Cepheids in NGC 1866 become available, we expect to derive the distance to the LMC with a +/-3%-4% accuracy, including systematic errors, from this technique.

Cepheid Variables in the Large Magellanic Cloud Cluster NGC 1866. I. New BVRI CCD Photometry

We report BV(RI)C CCD photometric data for a group of seven Cepheid variables in the young, rich cluster NGC 1866 in the Large Magellanic Cloud. The photometry was obtained as part of a program to determine accurate distances to these Cepheids by means of the infrared surface brightness technique and to improve the LMC Cepheid database for constructing Cepheid P-L and P-L-C relations. Using the new data together with data from the literature, we have determined improved periods for all variables. For five fundamental mode pulsators, the light curves are now of excellent quality and will lead to accurate distance and radius determinations once complete infrared light curves and radial velocity curves for these variables become available.

Calibration of the Cepheid Distance Scale with the Infrared Surface Brightness Technique

We review the process of determining the distances to Cepheid variables with the infrared surface brightness technique. We show that both versions of this technique (working with theV, V–Kand the pure infraredK, J–Kmagnitude/color combinations) yield consistent distances to Cepheid variables. For a Cepheid with average-quality photometric and radial velocity data, the typical total uncertainty in the distance is ±5%. We use the distances of 34 Galactic variables to calibrate period-luminosity relations in theV, I, J, H, Kbands and demonstrate that these relations lead to distance moduli of the LMC which agree to ±0.02 mag. The infrared surface brightness technique yields a best LMC distance modulus of 18.46 ±0.02. We discuss possible metallicity corrections, such as the ones determined by Sasselov et al. from EROS Cepheids comparison in the LMC and SMC, and conclude that our distance modulus is negligibly affected by these corrections. Finally, we present a program to obtain reddening- and metallicity-independent infrared surface brightness distances of Cepheid variables in LMC clusters which will yield an even more accurate mean LMC distance independent of any metallicity correction to Cepheid absolute magnitudes.

Calibration of the Cepheid Distance Scale with the Infrared Surface Brightness Technique

We review the process of determining the distances to Cepheid variables with the infrared surface brightness technique. We show that both versions of this technique (working with theV, V–Kand the pure infraredK, J–Kmagnitude/color combinations) yield consistent distances to Cepheid variables. For a Cepheid with average-quality photometric and radial velocity data, the typical total uncertainty in the distance is ±5%. We use the distances of 34 Galactic variables to calibrate period-luminosity relations in theV, I, J, H, Kbands and demonstrate that these relations lead to distance moduli of the LMC which agree to ±0.02 mag. The infrared surface brightness technique yields a best LMC distance modulus of 18.46 ±0.02. We discuss possible metallicity corrections, such as the ones determined by Sasselov et al. from EROS Cepheids comparison in the LMC and SMC, and conclude that our distance modulus is negligibly affected by these corrections. Finally, we present a program to obtain reddening- and metallicity-independent infrared surface brightness distances of Cepheid variables in LMC clusters which will yield an even more accurate mean LMC distance independent of any metallicity correction to Cepheid absolute magnitudes.