The Distance to the Galactic Center Derived From Infrared Photometry of Bulge Red Clump Stars

Details The Distance to the Galactic Center Derived From Infrared Photometry of Bulge Red Clump Stars The Distance to the Galactic Center Derived From Infrared Photometry of Bulge Red Clump Stars

2006-07-18

arxiv.org/abs/astro-ph/0607408v1

Astrophys.J.647:1093-1098,2006

Astronomy and Astrophysics

Astrophysics

14 pages, 4 figures, accepted by ApJ

Scientific paper

10.1086/505529

On the basis of the near infrared observations of bulge red clump stars near the Galactic center, we have determined the galactocentric distance to be R_0 = 7.52 +- 0.10 (stat) +- 0.35 (sys) kpc. We observed the red clump stars at |l| < 1.0 deg and 0.7 deg < |b| < 1.0 deg with the IRSF 1.4 m telescope and the SIRIUS camera in the H and Ks bands. After extinction and population corrections, we obtained (m - M)_0 = 14.38 +- 0.03 (stat) +- 0.10 (sys). The statistical error is dominated by the uncertainty of the intrinsic local red clump stars' luminosity. The systematic error is estimated to be +- 0.10 including uncertainties in extinction and population correction, zero-point of photometry, and the fitting of the luminosity function of the red clump stars. Our result, R_0 = 7.52 kpc, is in excellent agreement with the distance determined geometrically with the star orbiting the massive black hole in the Galactic center. The recent result based on the spatial distribution of globular clusters is also consistent with our result. In addition, our study exhibits that the distance determination to the Galactic center with the red clump stars, even if the error of the population correction is taken into account, can achieve an uncertainty of about 5%, which is almost the same level as that in recent geometrical determinations.

Affiliated with

Also associated with

No associations

Rating

The Distance to the Galactic Center Derived From Infrared Photometry of Bulge Red Clump Stars 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 The Distance to the Galactic Center Derived From Infrared Photometry of Bulge Red Clump Stars, we encourage you to share that experience with our LandOfFree.com community. Your opinion is very important and The Distance to the Galactic Center Derived From Infrared Photometry of Bulge Red Clump Stars will most certainly appreciate the feedback.

Rate now

Comments { 0 }

Profile ID: LFWR-SCP-O-122564