Population effects on the red giant clump absolute magnitude: The K-band

Details Population effects on the red giant clump absolute magnitude: The K-band Population effects on the red giant clump absolute magnitude: The K-band

2002-08-02

arxiv.org/abs/astro-ph/0208057v1

Mon.Not.Roy.Astron.Soc. 337 (2002) 332

Astronomy and Astrophysics

Astrophysics

9 pages, 8 figures, MNRAS accepted

Scientific paper

10.1046/j.1365-8711.2002.05917.x

We present a detailed analysis of the behaviour of the Red Clump K-band absolute magnitude (M(K,RC)) in simple and composite stellar populations, in light of its use as standard candle for distance determinations. The advantage of using M(K,RC), following recent empirical calibrations of its value for the solar neighbourhood, arises from its very low sensitivity to the extinction by interstellar dust. We provide data and equations which allow the determination of the K-band population correction Delta(M(K,RC)) (difference between the Red Clump brightness in the solar neighbourhood and in the population under scrutiny) for any generic stellar population. These data complement the results presented in Girardi & Salaris(2001) for the V- and I-band. We show how data from galactic open clusters consistently support our predicted Delta(M(V,RC)), Delta(M(I,RC)) and Delta(M(K,RC)) values. Multiband VIK population corrections for various galaxy systems are provided. They can be used in conjunction with the method devised by Alves et al.(2002), in order to derive simultaneously reddening and distance from the use of VIK observations of Red Clump stars. We have positively tested this technique on the Galactic globular cluster 47Tuc, for which both an empirical parallax-based main sequence fitting distance and reddening estimates exist. We have also studied the case of using only V and I photometry, recovering consistent results for both reddening and distance. Application of this method to an OGLE-II field, and the results by Alves et al.(2002), confirm a LMC distance modulus of about 18.50, in agreement with the HST extragalactic distance scale zero-point. (abridged)

Affiliated with

Also associated with

No associations

Rating

Population effects on the red giant clump absolute magnitude: The K-band 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 Population effects on the red giant clump absolute magnitude: The K-band, we encourage you to share that experience with our LandOfFree.com community. Your opinion is very important and Population effects on the red giant clump absolute magnitude: The K-band will most certainly appreciate the feedback.

Rate now

Comments { 0 }

Profile ID: LFWR-SCP-O-441745