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Characteristics of the Galaxy according to Cepheids
Classical and Type II Cepheids are used to reinvestigate specificproperties of the Galaxy. A new Type II reddening-free Cepheid distanceparametrization is formulated from Large Magellanic Cloud (LMC) Cepheids(OGLE), with uncertainties typically no larger than 5-15 per cent. Adistance to the Galactic centre of R0 = 7.8 +/- 0.6kpc isderived from the median distance to Type II Cepheids in the bulge(OGLE), R0 = 7.7 +/- 0.7kpc from a distance to the near sideof the bulge combined with an estimated bulge radius of 1.3 +/- 0.3kpcderived from planetary nebulae. The distance of the Sun from theGalactic plane inferred from classical Cepheid variables isZsolar = 26 +/- 3pc, a result dependent on the sample'sdistance and direction because of the complicating effects of Gould'sBelt and warping in the Galactic disc. Classical Cepheids and young openclusters delineate consistent and obvious spiral features, althoughtheir characteristics do not match conventional pictures of the Galaxy'sspiral pattern. The Sagittarius-Carina arm is confirmed as a majorspiral arm that appears to originate from a different Galactic regionthan suggested previously. Furthermore, a major feature is observed toemanate from Cygnus-Vulpecula and may continue locally near the Sun.Significant concerns related to the effects of metallicity on theVI-based reddening-free Cepheid distance relations used here are allayedby demonstrating that the computed distances to the Galactic centre, andto several globular clusters (M54, NGC 6441, M15 and M5) and galaxies(NGC 5128 and NGC 3198) which likely host Type II Cepheids: agree withliterature results to within the uncertainties. An additional empiricaltest is proposed to constrain any putative metallicity dependence ofCepheid distance determinations through forced matches of distanceestimates to a particular galaxy using both Type II and classicalCepheids.
| Observational studies of Cepheid amplitudes. I. Period-amplitude relationships for Galactic Cepheids and interrelation of amplitudes
Context: The dependence of amplitude on the pulsation period differsfrom other Cepheid-related relationships. Aims: We attempt torevise the period-amplitude (P-A) relationship of Galactic Cepheidsbased on multi-colour photometric and radial velocity data. Reliable P-Agraphs for Galactic Cepheids constructed for the U, B, V, R_C, andIC photometric bands and pulsational radial velocityvariations facilitate investigations of previously poorly studiedinterrelations between observable amplitudes. The effects of bothbinarity and metallicity on the observed amplitude, and the dichotomybetween short- and long-period Cepheids can both be studied. Methods: A homogeneous data set was created that contains basicphysical and phenomenological properties of 369 Galactic Cepheids.Pulsation periods were revised and amplitudes were determined by theFourier method. P-A graphs were constructed and an upper envelope to thedata points was determined in each graph. Correlations between variousamplitudes and amplitude-related parameters were searched for, usingCepheids without known companions. Results: Large amplitudeCepheids with companions exhibit smaller photometric amplitudes onaverage than solitary ones, as expected, while s-Cepheids pulsate withan arbitrary (although small) amplitude. The ratio of the observedradial velocity to blue photometric amplitudes, AV_RAD/A_B,is not as good an indicator of the pulsation mode as predictedtheoretically. This may be caused by an incorrect mode assignment to anumber of small amplitude Cepheids, which are not necessarily firstovertone pulsators. The dependence of the pulsation amplitudes onwavelength is used to identify duplicity of Cepheids. More than twentystars previously classified as solitary Cepheids are now suspected tohave a companion. The ratio of photometric amplitudes observed invarious bands confirms the existence of a dichotomy among normalamplitude Cepheids. The limiting period separating short- andlong-period Cepheids is 10.47 days. Conclusions:Interdependences of pulsational amplitudes, the period dependence of theamplitude parameters, and the dichotomy have to be taken into account asconstraints in modelling the structure and pulsation of Cepheids.Studies of the P-L relationship must comply with the break at 10.47°instead of the currently used “convenient” value of 10 days.Table 1 is only available in electronic form at the CDS via anonymousftp to cdsarc.u-strasbg.fr (130.79.128.5) or viahttp://cdsweb.u-strasbg.fr/cgi-bin/qcat?J/A+A/504/959
| Galactic abundance gradients from Cepheids. On the iron abundance gradient around 10-12 kpc
Context: Classical Cepheids are excellent tracers of intermediate-massstars, since their distances can be estimated with very high accuracy.In particular, they can be adopted to trace the chemical evolution ofthe Galactic disk. Aims: Homogeneous iron abundance measurements for 33Galactic Cepheids located in the outer disk together with accuratedistance determinations based on near-infrared photometry are adopted toconstrain the Galactic iron gradient beyond 10 kpc. Methods: Ironabundances were determined using high resolution Cepheid spectracollected with three different observational instruments: ESPaDOnS@CFHT,Narval@TBL and FEROS@2.2m ESO/MPG telescope. Cepheid distances wereestimated using near-infrared (J,H,K-band) period-luminosity relationsand data from SAAO and the 2MASS catalog. Results: The least squaressolution over the entire data set indicates that the iron gradient inthe Galactic disk presents a slope of -0.052±0.003 textrm {dexkpc}-1 in the 5-17 kpc range. However, the change of the ironabundance across the disk seems to be better described by a linearregime inside the solar circle and a flattening of the gradient towardthe outer disk (beyond 10 kpc). In the latter region the iron gradientpresents a shallower slope, i.e. -0.012±0.014 textrm {dexkpc}-1. In the outer disk (10-12 kpc) we also found thatCepheids present an increase in the spread in iron abundance. Currentevidence indicates that the spread in metallicity depends on theGalactocentric longitude. Finally, current data do not support thehypothesis of a discontinuity in the iron gradient at Galactocentricdistances of 10-12 kpc. Conclusions: The occurrence of a spread in ironabundance as a function of the Galactocentric longitude indicates thatlinear radial gradients should be cautiously treated to constrain thechemical evolution across the disk.
| Reddenings of FGK supergiants and classical Cepheids from spectroscopic data
Accurate and homogeneous atmospheric parameters(Teff,logg,Vt, [Fe/H]) are derived for 74 FGKnon-variable supergiants from high-resolution, high signal-to-noiseratio, echelle spectra. Extremely high precision for the inferredeffective temperatures (10-40K) is achieved by using the line-depthratio method. The new data are combined with atmospheric values for 164classical Cepheids, observed at 675 different pulsation phases, takenfrom our previously published studies. The derived values are correlatedwith unreddened B - V colours compiled from the literature for theinvestigated stars in order to obtain an empirical relationship of theform (B - V)0 = 57.984 -10.3587(logTeff)2 +1.67572(logTeff)3 - 3.356logg +0.0321Vt + 0.2615[Fe/H] + 0.8833(logg)(logTeff).The expression is used to estimate colour excesses E(B - V) forindividual supergiants and classical Cepheids, with a precision of+/-0.05 mag for supergiants and Cepheids with n = 1-2 spectra, reaching+/-0.025mag for Cepheids with n > 2 spectra, matching uncertaintiesfor the most sophisticated photometric techniques. The reddening scaleis also a close match to the system of space reddenings for Cepheids.The application range is for spectral types F0-K0 and luminosity classesI and II.
| The influence of chemical composition on the properties of Cepheid stars. II. The iron content
Context: The Cepheid period-luminosity (PL) relation is unquestionablyone of the most powerful tools at our disposal for determining theextragalactic distance scale. While significant progress has been madein the past few years towards its understanding and characterizationboth on the observational and theoretical sides, the debate on theinfluence that chemical composition may have on the PL relation is stillunsettled. Aims: With the aim to assess the influence of the stellariron content on the PL relation in the V and K bands, we have relatedthe V-band and the K-band residuals from the standard PL relations ofFreedman et al. (2001, ApJ, 553, 47) and Persson et al. (2004, AJ, 128,2239), respectively, to [Fe/H]. Methods: We used direct measurements ofthe iron abundances of 68 Galactic and Magellanic Cepheids from FEROSand UVES high-resolution and high signal-to-noise spectra. Results: Wefind a mean iron abundance ([Fe/H]) about solar (σ = 0.10) for ourGalactic sample (32 stars), ~-0.33 dex (σ = 0.13) for the LargeMagellanic Cloud (LMC) sample (22 stars) and ~-0.75 dex (σ = 0.08)for the Small Magellanic Cloud (SMC) sample (14 stars). Our abundancemeasurements of the Magellanic Cepheids double the number of starsstudied up to now at high resolution. The metallicity affects the V-bandCepheid PL relation and metal-rich Cepheids appear to be systematicallyfainter than metal-poor ones. These findings depend neither on theadopted distance scale for Galactic Cepheids nor on the adopted LMCdistance modulus. Current data do not allow us to reach a firmconclusion concerning the metallicity dependence of the K-band PLrelation. The new Galactic distances indicate a small effect, whereasthe old ones support a marginal effect. Conclusions: Recent robustestimates of the LMC distance and current results indicate that theCepheid PL relation is not Universal.Based on observations madewith ESO Telescopes at Paranal and La Silla Observatories underproposal ID 66.D-0571.Full Table [see full textsee full textsee full textsee full text] isonly available in electronic form at http://www.aanda.org
| Baade-Wesselink distances and the effect of metallicity in classical cepheids
Context: The metallicity dependence of the Cepheid PL-relation is ofimportance in establishing the extra-galactic distance scale. Aims: Theaim of this paper is to investigate the metallicity dependence of thePL-relation in V and K based on a sample of 68 Galactic Cepheids withindividual Baade-Wesselink distances (some of the stars also have anHST-based parallax) and individually determined metallicities fromhigh-resolution spectroscopy. Methods: Literature values of the V-band,K-band and radial velocity data have been collected for a sample of 68classical cepheids that have their metallicity determined in theliterature from high-resolution spectroscopy. Based on a (V-K)surface-brightness relation and a projection factor derived in aprevious paper, distances have been derived from a Baade-Wesselinkanalysis. PL- and PLZ-relations in V and K are derived. Results: Theeffect of the adopted dependence of the projection factor on period isinvestigated. The change from a constant p-factor to one recentlysuggested in the literature with a mild dependence on log P results in aless steep slope by 0.1 unit, which is about the 1-sigma error bar inthe slope itself. The observed slope in the PL-relation in V in the LMCagrees with both hypotheses. In K the difference between the Galacticand LMC slope is larger and would favour a mild period dependence of thep-factor. The dependence on metallicity in V and K is found to bemarginal, and independent of the choice of p-factor on period. Thisresult is severely limited by the small range in metallicity covered bythe Galactic Cepheids.
| Classical Cepheid pulsation models. XI. Effects of convection and chemical composition on the period-luminosity and period-Wesenheit relations
In spite of the relevance of classical Cepheids as primary distanceindicators, a general consensus on the dependence of theperiod-luminosity (PL) relation on the Cepheid chemical composition hasnot yet been achieved. From the theoretical point of view, our previousinvestigations were able to reproduce some empirical tests for suitableassumptions on the helium-to-metal relative enrichment, but theseresults relied on specific assumptions concerning the mass-luminosityrelation and the efficiency of the convective transfer in the pulsatingenvelopes. In this paper, we investigate the effects of the assumedvalue of the mixing-length parameter l/Hp on the pulsationproperties and we release the assumption of a fixed mass-luminosityrelation. To this purpose, new nonlinear convective fundamentalpulsation models have been computed for various chemical compositions(Z=0.004, 0.008, 0.01 and 0.02) and adopting l/H_p=1.7-1.8, which islarger than that (1.5) used in our previous papers. From the extendedmodel set, synthetic PL relations in the various photometric bands arederived using the predicted instability strip together with recentevolutionary tracks. We show that as the l/Hp value increasesthe pulsation region gets narrower, mostly due to the blueward shift ofthe red edge for fundamental pulsation, with the effect becomingstronger at the higher metal contents (Z≥ 0.01). However, thecomparison of the new models with previously computed models shows thatthe l/Hp variation has no consequence on the predictedperiod-Wesenheit (PW) relations, which instead are influenced by thepulsator metal content. On this basis, we present a straightforward wayto infer the distance and metal content of variables with observed BVIor BVK magnitudes. As for the PL relations, we show that either thezero-point and the slope are very slightly modified by thel/Hp variation, at constant chemical composition. We alsoconfirm that: (1) moving from visual to longer wavelengths, thepredicted period-magnitude distribution for a given metal contentbecomes narrower and its slope becomes steeper; (2) decreasing the metalcontent, the PL relations become steeper and brighter, with the amountof this metallicity effect decreasing from optical to near-infraredbands. Overall, we show that our pulsation relations appear fullyconsistent with the observed properties of Galactic and Magellanic CloudCepheids, supporting the predicted steepening and brightening of the PLrelations when moving from metal-rich to metal-poor variables. Moreover,we show that the distances inferred by the predicted PW relations agreewith recently measured trigonometric parallaxes, whereas they suggest acorrection to the values based on the Infrared Surface Brightnesstechnique, as already found from an independent method. Finally, alsothe pulsation metal contents suggested by the predicted PW relationsappear in statistical agreement with spectroscopic [Fe/H] measurements.
| A new calibration of Galactic Cepheid period-luminosity relations from B to K bands, and a comparison to LMC relations
Context: The universality of the Cepheid period-luminosity (PL)relations has been under discussion since metallicity effects wereassumed to play a role in the value of the intercept and, more recently,of the slope of these relations. Aims: The goal of the present study isto calibrate the Galactic PL relations in various photometric bands(from B to K) and to compare the results to the well-established PLrelations in the LMC. Methods: We use a set of 59 calibrating stars,the distances of which are measured using five different distanceindicators: Hubble Space Telescope and revised Hipparcos parallaxes,infrared surface brightness and interferometric Baade-Wesselinkparallaxes, and classical Zero-Age-Main-Sequence-fitting parallaxes forCepheids belonging to open clusters or OB stars associations. A detaileddiscussion of absorption corrections and projection factor to be used isgiven. Results: We find no significant difference in the slopes of thePL relations between LMC and our Galaxy. Conclusions: We conclude thatthe Cepheid PL relations have universal slopes in all photometric bands,not depending on the galaxy under study (at least for LMC and MilkyWay). The possible zero-point variation with metal content is notdiscussed in the present work, but an upper limit of 18.50 for the LMCdistance modulus can be deduced from our data.Tables 2, 6 and 7 are only available in electronic form athttp://www.aanda.org
| Cepheid parallaxes and the Hubble constant
Revised Hipparcos parallaxes for classical Cepheids are analysedtogether with 10 Hubble Space Telescope (HST)-based parallaxes. In areddening-free V, I relation we find that the coefficient of logP is thesame within the uncertainties in our Galaxy as in the Large MagellanicCloud (LMC), contrary to some previous suggestions. Cepheids in theinner region of NGC4258 with near solar metallicities confirm thisresult. We obtain a zero-point for the reddening-free relation and applyit to the Cepheids in galaxies used by Sandage et al. to calibrate theabsolute magnitudes of Type Ia supernova (SNIa) and to derive the Hubbleconstant. We revise their result for H0 from 62 to 70 +/-5kms-1Mpc-1. The Freedman et al. value is revisedfrom 72 to 76 +/- 8kms-1Mpc-1. These results areinsensitive to Cepheid metallicity corrections. The Cepheids in theinner region of NGC4258 yield a modulus of 29.22 +/- 0.03 (int.)compared with a maser-based modulus of 29.29 +/- 0.15. Distance modulifor the LMC, uncorrected for any metallicity effects, are 18.52 +/- 0.03from a reddening-free relation in V, I; 18.47 +/- 0.03 from aperiod-luminosity relation at K; 18.45 +/- 0.04 from aperiod-luminosity-colour relation in J, K. Adopting a metallicitycorrection in V, I from Macri et al. leads to a true LMC modulus of18.39 +/- 0.05.
| The reliability of Cepheid reddenings based on BVIC photometry
Externally determined values of E(B - V) (Espacered) for 40Galactic Cepheids are compared to reddenings determined using B - V andV - IC colour indices and the method of Dean, Warren &Cousins (EBVIC), updated to allow for metallicitycorrections. With three stars omitted on the grounds of uncertainty intheir space reddenings, we find thatThe two scales agree well in scale and zero-point, and there is nosignificant trend with period. Given the non-zero errors in the Cepheidspace reddenings, the estimated error in BVIC Cepheidreddenings is no more than 0.02.The above results are not significantly changed whether one corrects thereddenings for metallicity using older Bell models, or using more recentmodels by Sandage, Bell & Tripicco. Using the SBT models to correctthe reddenings of Cloud Cepheids for metallicity gives slightly smallerreddenings at a given metal deficiency, yielding `new' median reddeningsof 0.056 (Small Magellanic Cloud) and 0.076 (Large Magellanic Cloud) ifwe assume the same metal deficiencies as Caldwell and Coulson. Withmetal deficiencies of [M/H] = -0.7 and -0.25, the median reddenings are0.040 and 0.058.
| Detailed chemical composition of Galactic Cepheids. A determination of the Galactic abundance gradient in the 8-12 kpc region
Aims.The recent introduction of high-resolution/large spectral-rangespectrographs has provided the opportunity to investigate the chemicalcomposition of classical Cepheids in detail. This paper focusses on newabundance determinations for iron and 6 light metals (O, Na, Mg, Al, Si,Ca) in 30 Galactic Cepheids. We also give a new estimate of the Galacticradial abundance gradient. Methods: The stellar effective temperatureswere determined using the method of line depth ratios, and the surfacegravity and the microturbulent velocity vt by imposing theionization balance between Fe I and Fe II with the help of curves ofgrowth. Abundances were calculated with classical LTE atmosphere models. Results: Abundances were obtained with rms accuracies of about0.05-0.10 dex for Fe, and 0.05-0.20 dex for the other elements. Cepheidsin our sample have solar-like abundances, and current measurements agreequite well with previous determinations. We computed "single zone"Galactic radial abundance gradients for the 8-12 kpc region and found aslope for iron of -0.061 dex kpc-1.Based on observations made with the 1.52 m ESO Telescope at La Silla,Chile.
| Pulkovo compilation of radial velocities for 35495 stars in a common system.
Not Available
| Period-colour and amplitude-colour relations in classical Cepheid variables - IV. The multiphase relations
The superb phase resolution and quality of the Optical GravitationalLensing Experiment (OGLE) data on the Large Magellanic Cloud (LMC) andSmall Magellanic Cloud (SMC) Cepheids, together with existing data onGalactic Cepheids, are combined to study the period-colour (PC) andamplitude-colour (AC) relations as a function of pulsation phase. Ourresults confirm earlier work that the LMC PC relation (at mean light) ismore consistent with two lines of differing slopes, separated at aperiod of 10 d. However, our multiphase PC relations reveal much newstructure which can potentially increase our understanding of Cepheidvariables. These multiphase PC relations provide insight into why theGalactic PC relation is linear but the LMC PC relation is non-linear.This is because the LMC PC relation is shallower for short (logP < 1)and steeper for long (logP > 1) period Cepheids than thecorresponding Galactic PC relation. Both of the short- and long-periodCepheids in all three galaxies exhibit the steepest and shallowestslopes at phases around 0.75-0.85, respectively. A consequence is thatthe PC relation at phase ~ 0.8 is highly non-linear. Further, theGalactic and LMC Cepheids with logP > 1 display a flat slope in thePC plane at phases close to the maximum light. When the LMCperiod-luminosity (PL) relation is studied as a function of phase, weconfirm that it changes with the PC relation. The LMC PL relation in Vand I band near the phase of 0.8 provides compelling evidence that thisrelation is also consistent with two lines of differing slopes joined ata period close to 10 d.
| Stellar pulsation and evolution: a stepping-stone to match reality.
We discuss current status of evolutionary and pulsation predictions forintermediate-mass stars. In particular, we focus our attention on thedifferent physical mechanisms that might affect the current discrepancybetween evolutionary and pulsation estimates of Galactic and MagellanicCepheid masses. Theoretical findings and recent empirical evidenceindicate that the mass-loss may play a significan role in thislong-standing problem.
| A spectroscopic study of bright southern Cepheids - a high-resolution view of Cepheid atmospheres
We present high-resolution spectroscopic observations andspecies-by-species radial velocities of a number of southern Cepheids.The stars (BP Cir, V350 Sgr, AX Cir, V636 Sco, W Sgr, S Mus, β Dor,TT Aql, Y Oph, YZ Car, SW Vel, X Pup, T Mon and l Car) were observed aspart of a long-term programme at Mt John University Observatory. Radialvelocities were determined with the line bisector technique, and have aprecision of ~300 ms-1. Velocity differences as large as 30kms-1 were found for Hα and CaII when referenced to themetallic line velocity curves, but more subtle variations (of 1-2kms-1) were also detected in many other species. Pulsationalphase anticorrelations are found between lines of SiII and BaII,confirming the propagation time delay between line-forming layersproducing these two species. We find that the amplitude and phasedifferences between the various species increase with period.
| Mean JHK Magnitudes of Fundamental-Mode Cepheids from Single-Epoch Observations
We present an empirical method for converting single-point near-infraredJ, H, and K measurements of fundamental-mode Cepheids to meanmagnitudes, using complete light curves in V or I bands. The algorithmis based on the template light curves in the near-infrared bandpasses.The mean uncertainty of the method is estimated to about 0.03 mag, whichis smaller than the uncertainties obtained in other approaches to theproblem in the literature.
| Phase-dependent Variation of the Fundamental Parameters of Cepheids. II. Periods Longer than 10 Days
We present the results of a detailed multiphase spectroscopic analysisof 14 classical Cepheids with pulsation periods longer than 10 days. Foreach star, we have derived phased values of effective temperature,surface gravity, microturbulent velocity, and elemental abundances. Weshow that the elemental abundance results for these Cepheids areconsistent for all pulsational phases.
| Cepheid Variables in the AAVSO International Database
There are 205,500 visual observations for 148 Cepheids as well as 182photoelectric observations for 7 Cepheids in the AAVSO InternationalDatabase. These data were reduced with Hertzprung's method and 2,010times of maximum brightness were obtained. O-C diagrams for 21well-observed Cepheids are presented and results obtained are comparedwith existing data.
| Sodium enrichment of the stellar atmospheres. II. Galactic Cepheids
The present paper is a continuation of our study of the sodium abundancein supergiant atmospheres (Andrievsky et al. 2002a). We present theresults on the NLTE abundance determination in Cepheids, and the derivedrelation between the sodium overabundance and their masses.
| New Period-Luminosity and Period-Color relations of classical Cepheids: I. Cepheids in the Galaxy
321 Galactic fundamental-mode Cepheids with good B, V, and (in mostcases) I photometry by Berdnikov et al. (\cite{Berdnikov:etal:00}) andwith homogenized color excesses E(B-V) based on Fernie et al.(\cite{Fernie:etal:95}) are used to determine their period-color (P-C)relation in the range 0.4~ 1.4). The latter effect is enhanced by asuggestive break of the P-L relation of LMC and SMC at log P = 1.0towards still shallower values as shown in a forthcoming paper.Table 1 is only available in electronic form at the CDS via anonymousftp to cdsarc.u-strasbg.fr (130.79.128.5) or viahttp://cdsweb.u-strasbg.fr/cgi-bin/qcat?J/A+A/404/423
| Fundamental Parameters of Cepheids. V. Additional Photometry and Radial Velocity Data for Southern Cepheids
I present photometric and radial velocity data for Galactic Cepheids,most of them being in the southern hemisphere. There are 1250 Genevaseven-color photometric measurements for 62 Cepheids, the averageuncertainty per measurement is better than 0.01 mag. A total of 832velocity measurements have been obtained with the CORAVEL radialvelocity spectrograph for 46 Cepheids. The average accuracy of theradial velocity data is 0.38 km s-1. There are 33 stars withboth photometry and radial velocity data. I discuss the possiblebinarity or period change that these new data reveal. I also presentreddenings for all Cepheids with photometry. The data are availableelectronically. Based on observations obtained at the European SouthernObservatory, La Silla.
| Using Cepheids to determine the galactic abundance gradient. I. The solar neighbourhood
A number of studies of abundance gradients in the galactic disk havebeen performed in recent years. The results obtained are ratherdisparate: from no detectable gradient to a rather significant slope ofabout -0.1 dex kpc-1. The present study concerns theabundance gradient based on the spectroscopic analysis of a sample ofclassical Cepheids. These stars enable one to obtain reliable abundancesof a variety of chemical elements. Additionally, they have welldetermined distances which allow an accurate determination of abundancedistributions in the galactic disc. Using 236 high resolution spectra of77 galactic Cepheids, the radial elemental distribution in the galacticdisc between galactocentric distances in the range 6-11 kpc has beeninvestigated. Gradients for 25 chemical elements (from carbon togadolinium) are derived. The following results were obtained in thisstudy. Almost all investigated elements show rather flat abundancedistributions in the middle part of galactic disc. Typical values foriron-group elements lie within an interval from ~-0.02 to ~-0.04 dexkpc-1 (in particular, for iron we obtainedd[Fe/H]/dRG =-0.029 dex kpc-1). Similar gradientswere also obtained for O, Mg, Al, Si, and Ca. For sulphur we have founda steeper gradient (-0.05 dex kpc-1). For elements from Zr toGd we obtained (within the error bars) a near to zero gradient value.This result is reported for the first time. Those elements whoseabundance is not expected to be altered during the early stellarevolution (e.g. the iron-group elements) show at the solargalactocentric distance [El/H] values which are essentially solar.Therefore, there is no apparent reason to consider our Sun as ametal-rich star. The gradient values obtained in the present studyindicate that the radial abundance distribution within 6-11 kpc is quitehomogeneous, and this result favors a galactic model including a barstructure which may induce radial flows in the disc, and thus may beresponsible for abundance homogenization. Based on spectra collected atMcDonald - USA, SAORAS - Russia, KPNO - USA, CTIO - Chile, MSO -Australia, OHP - France. Full Table 1 is only available in electronicform at http://www.edpsciences.org Table A1 (Appendix) is only, andTable 2 also, available in electronic form at the CDS via anonymous ftpto cdsarc.u-strasbg.fr (130.79.128.5) or viahttp://cdsweb.u-strasbg.fr/cgi-bin/qcat?J/A+A/381/32
| Photometry and radial velocities of cepheids and other variable stars in the Galaxy and the LMC
UBVRIc and radial velocity measurements are presented for Galactic andLMC Cepheids, and for several variables of other type. The photometrycomprises 168 objects with 1790 phases, and the speedometry 15 objectswith 97 phases.
| Photoelectric Observations of Southern Cepheids in 2001
A total of 2097 photometric observations in the BVIc systemare presented for 117 Cepheids located in the southern hemisphere. Themain purpose of the photometry is to provide new epochs of maximumbrightness for studying Cepheid period changes, as well as to establishcurrent light elements for the Cepheids.
| Catalogue of Apparent Diameters and Absolute Radii of Stars (CADARS) - Third edition - Comments and statistics
The Catalogue, available at the Centre de Données Stellaires deStrasbourg, consists of 13 573 records concerning the results obtainedfrom different methods for 7778 stars, reported in the literature. Thefollowing data are listed for each star: identifications, apparentmagnitude, spectral type, apparent diameter in arcsec, absolute radiusin solar units, method of determination, reference, remarks. Commentsand statistics obtained from CADARS are given. The Catalogue isavailable in electronic form at the CDS via anonymous ftp tocdsarc.u-strasbg.fr (130.79.128.5) or viahttp://cdsweb.u-strasbg.fr/cgi-bin/qcar?J/A+A/367/521
| Stars with the Largest Hipparcos Photometric Amplitudes
A list of the 2027 stars that have the largest photometric amplitudes inHipparcos Photometry shows that most variable stars are all Miras. Thepercentage of variable types change as a function of amplitude. Thiscompilation should also be of value to photometrists looking forrelatively unstudied, but large amplitude stars.
| The intermediate-band approach to the surface-brightness method for Cepheid radii and distance determination
The surface-brightness parameter Fν is calibrated in termsof the Strömgren intermediate-band colour b-y. The relationFν-(b-y)o valid for Cepheids is calibratedusing accurate near-infrared radii and distances for selected Cepheids.We have obtained uvby photometry for non-Cepheid giant and supergiantstars with known angular diameters and compared the slope and zero-pointof their Fν-(b-y)o relation with the Cepheidcalibration. We found that the two calibrations are significantlydifferent. The theoretical models lie in between the two calibrations.It is remarked that Fν-colour relations derived fromnon-Cepheids and involving blue colours (e.g. B-V or b-y) are notapplicable to Cepheids, while those involving redder colours (e.g. V-R,V-K or V-J) also produce good radii for Cepheids. Selected Cepheids ascalibrators lead to the accurate relationFν=3.898(+/-0.003)-0.378(+/-0.006)(b-y)o, whichallowed the calculation of radii and distances for a sample of 59Galactic Cepheids. The uncertainties in the zero-point and slope of theabove relation are similar to those obtained from near-infrared colours,and determine the accuracies in radii and distance calculations. Whileinfrared light and colour curves for Cepheids may be superior inprecision, the intermediate-band b-y colour allows the recovery of meanradii with an accuracy comparable to those obtained from the infraredsolutions. The derived distances are consistent within the uncertaintieswith those predicted by a widely accepted period-luminosityrelationship. Likewise, the resulting period-radius relation from theintermediate-band approach is in better agreement with infrared versionsthan with optical versions of this law. It is highlighted that theintermediate-band calibration of the surface-brightness method in thiswork is of comparable accuracy to the near-infrared calibrations. Thepresent results stress the virtues of uvby in determining the physicalparameters of supergiant stars of intermediate temperature.
| Galactic Cepheids. Catalogue of light-curve parameters and distances
We report a new version of the catalogue of distances and light-curveparameters for Galactic classical Cepheids. The catalogue listsamplitudes, magnitudes at maximum light, and intensity means for 455stars in BVRI filters of the Johnson system and (RI)_C filters of theCron-Cousins system. The distances are based on our new multicolour setof PL relations and on our Cepheid-based solution for interstellarextinction law parameters and are referred to an LMC distance modulus of18.25. The catalogue is only available in electronic form at the CDS viaanonymous ftp (130.79.128.5) or viahttp://cdsweb.u-strasbg.fr/Abstract.html
| Multi-colour PL-relations of Cepheids in the bt HIPPARCOS catalogue and the distance to the LMC
We analyse a sample of 236 Cepheids from the hipparcos catalog, usingthe method of ``reduced parallaxes'' in V, I, K and the reddening-free``Wesenheit-index''. We compare our sample to those considered by Feast& Catchpole (1997) and Lanoix et al. (1999), and argue that oursample is the most carefully selected one with respect to completeness,the flagging of overtone pulsators, and the removal of Cepheids that mayinfluence the analyses for various reasons (double-mode Cepheids,unreliable hipparcos solutions, possible contaminated photometry due tobinary companions). From numerical simulations, and confirmed by theobserved parallax distribution, we derive a (vertical) scale height ofCepheids of 70 pc, as expected for a population of 3-10 Msunstars. This has consequences for Malmquist- and Lutz-Kelker (Lutz &Kelker 1973, Oudmaijer et al. 1998) type corrections which are smallerfor a disk population than for a spherical population. The V and I datasuggest that the slope of the Galactic PL-relations may be shallowerthan that observed for LMC Cepheids, either for the whole period range,or that there is a break at short periods (near log P_0 ~ 0.7-0.8). Westress the importance of two systematic effects which influence thedistance to the LMC: the slopes of the Galactic PL-relations andmetallicity corrections. In order to assess the influence of thesevarious effects, we present 27 distance moduli (DM) to the LMC. Theseare based on three different colours (V,I,K), three different slopes(the slope observed for Cepheids in the LMC, a shallower slope predictedfrom one set of theoretical models, and a steeper slope as derived forGalactic Cepheids from the surface-brightness technique), and threedifferent metallicity corrections (no correction as predicted by one setof theoretical models, one implying larger DM as predicted by anotherset of theoretical models, and one implying shorter DM based onempirical evidence). We derive DM between 18.45 +/- 0.18 and 18.86 +/-0.12. The DM based on K are shorter than those based on V and I andrange from 18.45 +/- 0.18 to 18.62 +/- 0.19, but the DM in K could besystematically too low by about 0.1 magnitude because of a bias due tothe fact that NIR photometry is available only for a limited number ofstars. From the Wesenheit-index we derive a DM of 18.60 +/- 0.11,assuming the observed slope of LMC Cepheids and no metallicitycorrection, for want of more information. The DM to the LMC based on theparallax data can be summarised as follows. Based on the PL-relation inV and I, and the Wesenheit-index, the DM is 18.60 ± 0.11(± 0.08 slope)(^{+0.08}_{-0.15} ;metallicity), which is ourcurrent best estimate. Based on the PL-relation in K the DM is ;;;;18.52 +/- 0.18 (± 0.03 ;slope) (± 0.06 ;metallicity)(^{+0.10}_{-0} ;sampling ;bias). The random error is mostly due to thegiven accuracy of the hipparcos parallaxes and the number of Cepheids inthe respective samples. The terms between parentheses indicate thepossible systematic uncertainties due to the slope of the GalacticPL-relations, the metallicity corrections, and in the K-band, due to thelimited number of stars. Recent work by Sandage et al. (1999) indicatesthat the effect of metallicity towards shorter distances may be smallerin V and I than indicated here. From this, we point out the importanceof obtaining NIR photometry for more (closeby) Cepheids, as for themoment NIR photometry is only available for 27% of the total sample.This would eliminate the possible bias due to the limited number ofstars, and would reduce the random error estimate from 0.18 to about0.10 mag. Furthermore, the sensitivity of the DM to reddening,metallicity correction and slope are smallest in the K-band. Based ondata from the ESA HP astrometry satellite.
| Direct calibration of the Cepheid period-luminosity relation
After the first release of Hipparcos data, Feast & Catchpole gave anew value for the zero-point of the visual Cepheid period-luminosityrelation, based on trigonometric parallaxes. Because of the largeuncertainties on these parallaxes, the way in which individualmeasurements are weighted is of crucial importance. We thereforeconclude that the choice of the best weighting system can be aided by aMonte Carlo simulation. On the basis of such a simulation, it is shownthat (i) a cut-off in π or in σ_ππ introduces a strongbias; (ii) the zero-point is more stable when only the brightestCepheids are used; and (iii) the Feast & Catchpole weighting givesthe best zero-point and the lowest dispersion. After correction, theadopted visual period-luminosity relation is=-2.77logP-1.44+/-0.05. Moreover, we extend this study to thephotometric I band (Cousins) and obtain=-3.05logP-1.81+/-0.09.
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Observation and Astrometry data
| Constellation: | Puppis |
| Right ascension: | 07h32m47.03s |
| Declination: | -20°54'34.9" |
| Apparent magnitude: | 8.487 |
| Distance: | 10000000 parsecs |
| Proper motion RA: | 0.4 |
| Proper motion Dec: | 0.1 |
| B-T magnitude: | 10.002 |
| V-T magnitude: | 8.613 |
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