Description
The separation between RR Lyrae (RRLs) and type II Cepheid (T2Cs) variables based on their period is debated. Both types of variable stars are distance indicators, and we aim to promote the use of T2Cs as distance indicators in synergy with RRLs. We adopted new and existing optical and Near-Infrared (NIR) photometry of omega Cen to investigate several diagnostics (colour-magnitude diagram, Bailey diagram, Fourier decomposition of the light curve, amplitude ratios) for the empirical separation between Type II Cepheids (T2Cs) and RR Lyrae (RRLs). We also derived NIR period-luminosity relations and found a distance modulus of 13.65+/-0.07 (err.)+/-0.01 (sigma) mag, in agreement with the recent literature. We also found that RRLs and T2Cs obey the same PL relations in the NIR.
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