Astronomy and Astrophysics – Astronomy
Scientific paper
May 2010
adsabs.harvard.edu/cgi-bin/nph-data_query?bibcode=2010aas...21641907j&link_type=abstract
American Astronomical Society, AAS Meeting #216, #419.07; Bulletin of the American Astronomical Society, Vol. 41, p.831
Astronomy and Astrophysics
Astronomy
Scientific paper
A reliable precision measurement of the distance to the Large Magellanic Cloud (LMC) provides a calibration datum for studies of the cosmic distance scale, and a useful constraint on the significance of metallicity effects on the Cepheid Period-Luminosity relation. We present precision K-band observations of about 200 red clump stars with large Hipparcos parallaxes, together with supplemental observations of the same stars in the standard J- and H-bands. All observations were obtained with the MkII infrared photometer and 0.75-m telescope at the South African Astronomical Observatory. The same instrument, telescope and filter set were used to establish the Carter bright infrared photometric standards. Experience has shown that observational errors on this system are routinely better than a hundredth of a magnitude.
Our new result compares the K-band magnitudes of local red clump stars with large Hipparcos parallaxes to the observed mean LMC K-band red clump magnitude to produce a distance to the LMC with minimal age/metallicity dependence that we believe is determined to better than 3%. It is clear that the effects of reddening, age, and metal abundance are negligible compared to V-band and I-band measurements. Our preliminary results at the time this abstract was submitted indicate that the metallicity corrections to the Cepheid Period-Luminosity relation are also quite small.
Joner Michael D.
Laney Cliford D.
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