Cepheids At High Resolution: Pulsation, Distances And Circumstellar Envelopes

Other

Scientific paper

Rate now

  [ 0.00 ] – not rated yet Voters 0   Comments 0

Details

Scientific paper

Although the period-luminosity relation is just 100 years old, Cepheids are still surprising stars in many respects. The recent availability of long-baseline infrared interferometers with hectometric baselines allowed us to measure their angular diameters with sub-percent accuracy. Through a variant of the classical Baade-Wesselink method, such interferometric measurements, complemented by spectroscopy, give us their distance from the comparison of the angular size and radius variation amplitudes. This method, although quasi-geometric, presents some particular difficulties that we will briefly discuss. SIM-Lite will provide high-accuracy parallaxes to 40 nearby Cepheids. When combined with high-resolution spectroscopy and interferometry, this will allow us to calibrate the Baade-Wesselink method, and more specifically the projection factor that is currently limiting its accuracy.
In the course of these interferometric observations, we discovered compact circumstellar envelopes around several nearby Cepheids in the near-infrared. In particular, we discovered in 2006 a compact envelope around the long period Cepheid L Car. Another long-period Cepheid, RS Pup, presents a large ( 2') circumstellar nebula scattering the Cepheid light in the visible. These envelopes are particularly interesting for two reasons: their presence could impact the Cepheid distance scale, and they could imply stellar mass loss. We present a brief comparative view of these two Cepheid envelopes. SIM observations will provide dynamical masses for binary systems containing a Cepheid, an essential input for stellar evolution models and our understanding of mass-loss mechanisms.

No associations

LandOfFree

Say what you really think

Search LandOfFree.com for scientists and scientific papers. Rate them and share your experience with other people.

Rating

Cepheids At High Resolution: Pulsation, Distances And Circumstellar Envelopes does not yet have a rating. At this time, there are no reviews or comments for this scientific paper.

If you have personal experience with Cepheids At High Resolution: Pulsation, Distances And Circumstellar Envelopes, we encourage you to share that experience with our LandOfFree.com community. Your opinion is very important and Cepheids At High Resolution: Pulsation, Distances And Circumstellar Envelopes will most certainly appreciate the feedback.

Rate now

     

Profile ID: LFWR-SCP-O-1107490

  Search
All data on this website is collected from public sources. Our data reflects the most accurate information available at the time of publication.