- ID:
- ivo://CDS.VizieR/J/ApJ/781/22
- Title:
- Region I of La Silla QUEST RR Lyrae star survey
- Short Name:
- J/ApJ/781/22
- Date:
- 21 Oct 2021
- Publisher:
- CDS
- Description:
- A search for RR Lyrae stars (RRLSs) in ~840deg^2^ of the sky in right ascension 150{deg}-210{deg} and declination -10{deg} to + 10{deg} yielded 1013 type ab and 359 type c RRLS. This sample is used to study the density profile of the Galactic halo, halo substructures, and the Oosterhoff type of the halo over distances (d_{sun}_) from ~5 to ~80kpc. The halo is flattened toward the Galactic plane, and its density profile steepens in slope at galactocentric distances greater than ~25kpc. The RRLS in the stellar stream from the Sagittarius dwarf spheroidal (dSph) galaxy match well the model of Law & Majewski for the stars that were stripped 1.3-3.2Gyr ago, but not for the ones stripped 3.2-5.0Gyr ago. Over densities are found at the locations of the Virgo Overdensity and the Virgo Stellar Stream. Within 1{deg} of 1220-1, which Jerjen et al. identify as a halo substructure at d_{sun}_~24kpc, there are four RRLS that are possibly members. Away from substructures, the RRLS are a mixture of Oosterhoff types I and II, but mostly OoI (~73%). The accretion of galaxies resembling in RRLS content the most massive Milky Way satellites (LMC, SMC, For, Sgr) may explain this preponderance of OoI. Six new RRLS and three new anomalous Cepheids were found in the Sextans dSph galaxy.
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Search Results
- ID:
- ivo://CDS.VizieR/J/ApJ/874/30
- Title:
- RRab stars toward Baade's window with Blanco/DECam
- Short Name:
- J/ApJ/874/30
- Date:
- 21 Oct 2021
- Publisher:
- CDS
- Description:
- We have obtained repeated images of six fields toward the Galactic bulge in five passbands (u, g, r, i, z) with the DECam imager on the Blanco 4m telescope at CTIO. From more than 1.6 billion individual photometric measurements in the field centered on Baade's window, we have detected 4877 putative variable stars. A total of 474 of these have been confirmed as fundamental mode RR Lyrae stars, whose colors at minimum light yield line-of-sight reddening determinations, as well as a reddenning law toward the Galactic Bulge, which differs significantly from the standard R_V_=3.1 formulation. Assuming that the stellar mix is invariant over the 3 square-degree field, we are able to derive a line-of-sight reddening map with sub-arcminute resolution, enabling us to obtain de-reddened and extinction corrected color-magnitude diagrams (CMDs) of this bulge field using up to 2.5 million well-measured stars. The corrected CMDs show unprecedented detail and expose sparsely populated sequences: for example, delineation of the very wide red giant branch, structure within the red giant clump, the full extent of the horizontal branch, and a surprising bright feature that is likely due to stars with ages younger than 1Gyr. We use the RR Lyrae stars to trace the spatial structure of the ancient stars and find an exponential decline in density with Galactocentric distance. We discuss ways in which our data products can be used to explore the age and metallicity properties of the bulge, and how our larger list of all variables is useful for learning to interpret future LSST alerts.
- ID:
- ivo://CDS.VizieR/J/A+A/430/1049
- Title:
- RR Gem BV(RI)c differential photometry
- Short Name:
- J/A+A/430/1049
- Date:
- 21 Oct 2021
- Publisher:
- CDS
- Description:
- Extended CCD monitoring of RR Gem revealed that it is a Blazhko type RRab star with the shortest Blazhko period (7.23d) and smallest modulation amplitude (delta_Mmax_<0.1mag) currently known. The short period of the modulation cycle enabled us to obtain complete phase coverage of the pulsation at each phase of the modulation. This is the first multicolour observation of a Blazhko star which is extended enough to define accurate mean magnitudes and colours of the variable at different Blazhko phases. Small, but real, changes in the intensity mean colours at different Blazhko phases have been detected. The Fourier analysis of the light curves shows that, in spite of the mmag and smaller order of the amplitudes, the triplet structure is noticeable up to about the 14th harmonic. The modulation is concentrated to a very narrow, 0.2 phase range of the pulsation, centred on the supposed onset of the H emission during rising light. These observational results raise further complications for theoretical explanation of the long known but poorly understood Blazhko phenomenon.
- ID:
- ivo://CDS.VizieR/J/AJ/152/170
- Title:
- RRLs in globulars. IV. UBVRI photometry in Omega Cen
- Short Name:
- J/AJ/152/170
- Date:
- 21 Oct 2021
- Publisher:
- CDS
- Description:
- New accurate and homogeneous optical UBVRI photometry has been obtained for variable stars in the Galactic globular cluster {omega} Cen (NGC 5139). We secured 8202 CCD images covering a time interval of 24 years and a sky area of 84x48arcmin. The current data were complemented with data available in the literature and provided new, homogeneous pulsation parameters (mean magnitudes, luminosity amplitudes, periods) for 187 candidate {omega} Cen RR Lyrae (RRLs). Among them we have 101 RRc (first overtone) and 85 RRab (fundamental) variables, and a single candidate RRd (double-mode) variable. Candidate Blazhko RRLs show periods and colors that are intermediate between the RRc and RRab variables, suggesting that they are transitional objects. A comparison of the period distribution and the Bailey diagram indicates that RRLs in {omega} Cen show a long-period tail not present in typical Oosterhoff II (OoII) globulars. The RRLs in dwarf spheroidals and in ultra-faint dwarfs have properties between Oosterhoff intermediate and OoII clusters. Metallicity plays a key role in shaping the above evidence. These findings do not support the hypothesis that {omega} Cen is the core remnant of a spoiled dwarf galaxy. Using optical period-Wesenheit relations that are reddening-free and minimally dependent on metallicity we find a mean distance to {omega} Cen of 13.71+/-0.08+/-0.01mag (semi-empirical and theoretical calibrations). Finally, we invert the I-band period-luminosity-metallicity relation to estimate individual RRLs' metal abundances. The metallicity distribution agrees quite well with spectroscopic and photometric metallicity estimates available in the literature.
- ID:
- ivo://CDS.VizieR/J/AJ/155/137
- Title:
- RRLs in globulars. V.{omega} Centauri NIR photometry
- Short Name:
- J/AJ/155/137
- Date:
- 21 Oct 2021
- Publisher:
- CDS
- Description:
- We present a new complete near-infrared (NIR, JHK_s_) census of RR Lyrae stars (RRLs) in the globular {omega} Cen (NGC 5139). We collected 15472 JHK_s_ images with 4-8 m class telescopes over 15 years (2000-2015) covering a sky area around the cluster center of 60x34 arcmin^2^. These images provided calibrated photometry for 182 out of the 198 cluster RRL candidates with 10 to 60 measurements per band. We also provide new homogeneous estimates of the photometric amplitude for 180 (J), 176 (H) and 174 (K_s_) RRLs. These data were supplemented with single-epoch JK_s_ magnitudes from VHS (Mcmahon et al. 2013Msngr.154...35M) and with single-epoch H magnitudes from 2MASS (Cat. VII/233). Using proprietary optical and NIR data together with new optical light curves (ASAS-SN) we also updated pulsation periods for 59 candidate RRLs. As a whole, we provide JHK_s_ magnitudes for 90 RRab (fundamentals), 103 RRc (first overtones) and one RRd (mixed-mode pulsator). We found that NIR/optical photometric amplitude ratios increase when moving from first overtone to fundamental and to long-period (P>0.7 days) fundamental RRLs. Using predicted period-luminosity-metallicity relations, we derive a true distance modulus of 13.674+/-0.008+/-0.038 mag (statistical error and standard deviation of the median) based on spectroscopic iron abundances, and of 13.698+/-0.004+/-0.048 mag based on photometric iron abundances. We also found evidence of possible systematics at the 5%-10% level in the zero-point of the period-luminosity relations based on the five calibrating RRLs whose parallaxes had been determined with the HST.
- ID:
- ivo://CDS.VizieR/J/AJ/140/1766
- Title:
- RR Lyrae in M62 (NGC6266)
- Short Name:
- J/AJ/140/1766
- Date:
- 21 Oct 2021
- Publisher:
- CDS
- Description:
- We present new time-series CCD photometry, in the B and V bands, for the moderately metal-rich ([Fe/H]=~-1.3) Galactic globular cluster M62 (NGC 6266). The present data set is the largest obtained so far for this cluster and consists of 168 images per filter, obtained with the Warsaw 1.3m telescope at the Las Campanas Observatory and the 1.3m telescope of the Cerro Tololo Inter-American Observatory, in two separate runs over the time span of 3 months.
- ID:
- ivo://CDS.VizieR/J/AJ/158/223
- Title:
- RR Lyrae members of the Pal 5 stellar stream
- Short Name:
- J/AJ/158/223
- Date:
- 21 Oct 2021
- Publisher:
- CDS
- Description:
- Thin stellar streams, formed from the tidal disruption of globular clusters, are important gravitational tools, sensitive to both global and small-scale properties of dark matter. The Palomar 5 stellar stream (Pal 5) is an exemplar stream within the Milky Way: its ~20{deg} tidal tails connect back to the progenitor cluster, and the stream has been used to study the shape, total mass, and substructure fraction of the dark matter distribution of the Galaxy. However, most details of the phase-space distribution of the stream are not fully explained, and dynamical models that use the stream for other inferences are therefore incomplete. Here we aim to measure distance and kinematic properties along the Pal 5 stream in order to motivate improved models of the system. We use a large catalog of RR Lyrae-type stars (RRLs) with astrometric data from the Gaia mission to probabilistically identify RRLs in the Pal 5 stream. RRLs are useful because they are intrinsically luminous standard candles and their distances can be inferred with small relative precision (~3%). By building a probabilistic model of the Pal 5 cluster and stream in proper motion and distance, we find 27 RRLs consistent with being members of the cluster (10) and stream (17). Using these RRLs, we detect gradients in distance and proper motion along the stream, and provide an updated measurement of the distance to the Pal 5 cluster using the RRLs, d=20.6+/-0.2 kpc. We provide a catalog of Pal 5 RRLs with inferred membership probabilities for future modeling work.
- ID:
- ivo://CDS.VizieR/J/ApJ/767/62
- Title:
- RR Lyrae stars BV photometry in UMa I
- Short Name:
- J/ApJ/767/62
- Date:
- 21 Oct 2021
- Publisher:
- CDS
- Description:
- We have performed the first study of the variable star population of Ursa Major I (UMa I), an ultra-faint dwarf satellite recently discovered around the Milky Way (MW) by the Sloan Digital Sky Survey. Combining time series observations in the B and V bands from four different telescopes, we have identified seven RR Lyrae stars in UMa I, of which five are fundamental-mode (RRab) and two are first-overtone pulsators (RRc). Our V, B-V color-magnitude diagram of UMa I reaches V~23mag (at a signal-to-noise ratio of ~6) and shows features typical of a single old stellar population. The mean pulsation period of the RRab stars <P_ab_>=0.628, {sigma}=0.071 days (or <P_ab_>=0.599, {sigma}=0.032 days, if V4, the longest period and brightest variable, is discarded) and the position on the period-amplitude diagram suggest an Oosterhoff-intermediate classification for the galaxy. The RR Lyrae stars trace the galaxy horizontal branch (HB) at an average apparent magnitude of <V(RR)>=20.43+/-0.02mag (average on six stars and discarding V4), giving in turn a distance modulus for UMa I of (m-M)_0_=19.94+/-0.13mag, distance d=97.3_-5.7_^+6.0^kpc, in the scale where the distance modulus of the Large Magellanic Cloud is 18.5+/-0.1mag. Isodensity contours of UMa I red giants and HB stars (including the RR Lyrae stars identified in this study) show that the galaxy has an S-shaped structure, which is likely caused by the tidal interaction with the MW. Photometric metallicities were derived for six of the UMa I RR Lyrae stars from the parameters of the Fourier decomposition of the V-band light curves, leading to an average metal abundance of [Fe/H]=-2.29dex ({sigma}=0.06dex, average on six stars) on the Carretta et al. (2009, J/A+A/505/117) metallicity scale.
- ID:
- ivo://CDS.VizieR/J/AJ/153/204
- Title:
- RR Lyrae stars from the PS1 3{pi} survey
- Short Name:
- J/AJ/153/204
- Date:
- 21 Oct 2021
- Publisher:
- CDS
- Description:
- RR Lyrae stars may be the best practical tracers of Galactic halo (sub-)structure and kinematics. The PanSTARRS1 (PS1) 3{pi} survey offers multi-band, multi-epoch, precise photometry across much of the sky, but a robust identification of RR Lyrae stars in this data set poses a challenge, given PS1's sparse, asynchronous multi-band light curves (<~12 epochs in each of five bands, taken over a 4.5yr period). We present a novel template fitting technique that uses well-defined and physically motivated multi-band light curves of RR Lyrae stars, and demonstrate that we get accurate period estimates, precise to 2s in >80% of cases. We augment these light-curve fits with other features from photometric time-series and provide them to progressively more detailed machine-learned classification models. From these models, we are able to select the widest (three-fourths of the sky) and deepest (reaching 120kpc) sample of RR Lyrae stars to date. The PS1 sample of ~45000 RRab stars is pure (90%) and complete (80% at 80kpc) at high galactic latitudes. It also provides distances that are precise to 3%, measured with newly derived period-luminosity relations for optical/near-infrared PS1 bands. With the addition of proper motions from Gaia and radial velocity measurements from multi-object spectroscopic surveys, we expect the PS1 sample of RR Lyrae stars to become the premier source for studying the structure, kinematics, and the gravitational potential of the Galactic halo. The techniques presented in this study should translate well to other sparse, multi-band data sets, such as those produced by the Dark Energy Survey and the upcoming Large Synoptic Survey Telescope Galactic plane sub-survey.
- ID:
- ivo://CDS.VizieR/J/ApJ/861/23
- Title:
- RR Lyrae variables in the Crater II dwarf galaxy
- Short Name:
- J/ApJ/861/23
- Date:
- 21 Oct 2021
- Publisher:
- CDS
- Description:
- We report the detection of RR Lyrae variable stars in Crater II, a recently discovered large and diffuse satellite dwarf galaxy of the Milky Way (MW). Based on B, V time-series photometry obtained with the Korea Microlensing Telescope Network 1.6m telescope at Cerro Tololo Inter-American Observatory, we identified 83 ab-type and 13 c-type pulsators by fitting template light curves. The detected RR Lyrae stars are centrally concentrated, which ensures that most of them are members of Crater II. In terms of the distribution of RRab stars in the period-amplitude diagram, Crater II is clearly different from ultra-faint dwarf (UFD) galaxies, but very similar to the two classical MW dwarf spheroidal (dSph) galaxies Draco and Carina with Oosterhoff-intermediate (Oo-int) properties. Combined with the mean period of ab-type variables (<P_ab_>=0.631+/-0.004days) and the c-type fraction (~0.14) in Crater II, this suggests an Oo-int classification for Crater II and implies that its nature is more like a dSph rather than a UFD. We also estimated the mean metallicity, reddening, and distance of Crater II, from the photometric and pulsation properties of the RR Lyrae stars. The stellar population model we have constructed indicates that Crater II is dominated by an old population, but is relatively younger than the oldest globular clusters in the MW. With a lack of high-amplitude short-period RRab stars, Crater II, like most of the other less massive dSphs, is probably not a surviving counterpart of the major building blocks of the MW halo.