scholarly journals RR Lyrae stars as probes of the Milky Way structure and formation

2015 ◽  
Vol 11 (S317) ◽  
pp. 116-119
Author(s):  
Pawel Pietrukowicz ◽  
Keyword(s):  
Galactic Center ◽  
Variable Stars ◽  
Wide Field ◽  
Rr Lyrae Stars ◽  
Rr Lyrae ◽  
The Galaxy ◽  
First Results ◽  
Formation And Evolution ◽  
Lyrae Stars ◽  
Distance Indicators

AbstractRR Lyrae stars being distance indicators and tracers of old population serve as excellent probes of the structure, formation, and evolution of our Galaxy. Thousands of them are being discovered in ongoing wide-field surveys. The OGLE project conducts the Galaxy Variability Survey with the aim to detect and analyze variable stars, in particular of RRab type, toward the Galactic bulge and disk, covering a total area of 3000 deg2. Observations in these directions also allow detecting background halo variables and unique studies of their properties and distribution at distances from the Galactic Center to even 40 kpc. In this contribution, we present the first results on the spatial distribution of the observed RRab stars, their metallicity distribution, the presence of multiple populations, and relations with the old bulge. We also show the most recent results from the analysis of RR Lyrae stars of the Sgr dwarf spheroidal galaxy, including its center, the globular cluster M54.

scholarly journals RR Lyrae stars: prime calibrators of the first rung of the distance ladder

2012 ◽  
Vol 8 (S289) ◽  
pp. 101-108 ◽  
Author(s):  
Carla Cacciari
Keyword(s):  
Local Group ◽  
Primary Standard ◽  
Empirical Methods ◽  
Rr Lyrae Stars ◽  
Rr Lyrae ◽  
The Galaxy ◽  
Definition Of ◽  
Near Future ◽  
Lyrae Stars ◽  
Distance Indicators

AbstractRR Lyrae variables are the primary standard candles for old stellar populations, and the traditional first step in the definition of the distance scale. Their properties are known on the basis of well-established physical concepts and their calibration is based on several empirical methods. Both aspects are critically reviewed, and their application as distance indicators within the Galaxy and the Local Group are discussed, also in view of the observing facilities that will be available in the near future.

STRucture and Evolution of the GAlaxy (STREGA): The case of Pal 3

2019 ◽  
Vol 14 (S351) ◽  
pp. 478-481
Author(s):  
M. I. Moretti ◽  
I. Musella ◽  
M. Marconi ◽  
V. Ripepi ◽  
R. Molinaro
Keyword(s):  
Time Series ◽  
Globular Cluster ◽  
Variable Stars ◽  
Rr Lyrae Stars ◽  
North East ◽  
The North ◽  
Rr Lyrae ◽  
The Galaxy ◽  
Lyrae Stars ◽  
Candidate Variable

AbstractIn the context of the STRucture and Evolution of the GAlaxy survey, we describe the preliminary results obtained for the fields around the globular cluster Pal 3 (about 2.75 square degrees), by exploiting the obtained g, r, i time series photometry. The final aim is to use variable stars as tools to verify and study the presence of streams around Pal 3. We found 20 candidate variable stars of which 7 RR Lyrae stars possibly belonging to Pal 3, also at large distance from the center. The distribution of the candidate RR Lyrae seems to confirm a preferential distribution in the north-east direction, confirming previous results in literature.

scholarly journals RR Lyrae Variable Stars and the Distance Scale

1978 ◽  
Vol 80 ◽  
pp. 53-57
Author(s):  
S. V. M. Clube ◽  
J. A. Dawe
Keyword(s):  
Galactic Halo ◽  
Galactic Center ◽  
Variable Stars ◽  
Magellanic Clouds ◽  
Solar Neighborhood ◽  
Royal Greenwich Observatory ◽  
Rr Lyrae Stars ◽  
Rr Lyrae ◽  
Lyrae Stars ◽  
Kinematical Parameters

A statistical parallax algorithm (Clube and Dave, 1978a,b), using the technique of maximum likelihood, has been applied to a set of 103 ‘ab’ - RR Lyrae stars in the solar neighborhood (r 2<kpc), using observational data from the Royal Greenwich Observatory Bulletins. A second set of 130 ‘ab’ - RR Lyrae stars has been kindly supplied to us by Dr. A. Heck (Université de Liège) to permit a comparison between our analyses. The purpose of this investigation was:(a) to investigate the variations of kinematical parameters and absolute luminosities of these stars as functions of Preston's index ΔS and of log (Period).(b) to identify those RR Lyrae stars in the solar neighborhood which most closely resemble those in the galactic halo, those near the galactic center, and those in the Magellanic Clouds.

scholarly journals A DECam view of the diffuse dwarf galaxy Crater II – Variable stars

2019 ◽  
Vol 492 (1) ◽  
pp. 1061-1077 ◽  
Author(s):  
A Katherina Vivas ◽  
Alistair R Walker ◽  
Clara E Martínez-Vázquez ◽  
Matteo Monelli ◽  
Giuseppe Bono ◽  
...  
Keyword(s):  
Time Series ◽  
Dwarf Galaxy ◽  
Position Angle ◽  
Variable Stars ◽  
Distance Modulus ◽  
Rr Lyrae Stars ◽  
Rr Lyrae ◽  
The Galaxy ◽  
Binary Evolution ◽  
Lyrae Stars

ABSTRACT Time series observations of a single dithered field centred on the diffuse dwarf satellite galaxy Crater II were obtained with the Dark Energy Camera (DECam) at the 4m Blanco Telescope at Cerro Tololo Inter-American Observatory, Chile, uniformly covering up to two half-light radii. Analysis of the g and i time series results in the identification and characterization of 130 periodic variable stars, including 98 RR Lyrae stars, 7 anomalous Cepheids, and 1 SX Phoenicis star belonging to the Crater II population, and 24 foreground variables of different types. Using the large number of ab-type RR Lyrae stars present in the galaxy, we obtained a distance modulus to Crater II of (m − M)0 = 20.333 ± 0.004 (stat) ±0.07 (sys). The distribution of the RR Lyrae stars suggests an elliptical shape for Crater II, with an ellipticity of 0.24 and a position angle of 153°. From the RR Lyrae stars, we infer a small metallicity dispersion for the old population of Crater II of only 0.17 dex. There are hints that the most metal-poor stars in that narrow distribution have a wider distribution across the galaxy, while the slightly more metal-rich part of the population is more centrally concentrated. Given the features in the colour–magnitude diagram of Crater II, the anomalous Cepheids in this galaxy must have formed through a binary evolution channel of an old population.

Milky Way’s structure based on thousands of Cepheids and RR Lyrae stars from OGLE

2019 ◽  
Vol 14 (S353) ◽  
pp. 1-5
Author(s):  
Pawel Pietrukowicz
Keyword(s):  
Galactic Plane ◽  
Variable Stars ◽  
Thin Disk ◽  
Rr Lyrae Stars ◽  
Robust Detection ◽  
Rr Lyrae ◽  
Classical Cepheids ◽  
Type Variable ◽  
Lyrae Stars ◽  
Distance Indicators

AbstractClassical Cepheids and RR Lyrae-type variable stars are widely-used tracers of young (< 300 Myr) and old (> 10 Gyr) stellar populations, respectively. These stars also serve as distance indicators allowing for Galactic structure studies. Robust detection of pulsating variables requires precise and relatively frequent observations over several years. Recently, the OGLE survey has discovered nearly 1,300 new genuine classical Cepheids and 15,000 RR Lyrae stars along the southern Galactic plane. Here, we present the picture of the Milky Way’s thin disk drawn with the Cepheids and the view of the Galactic old population that emerges from the set of known RR Lyrae stars.

scholarly journals The Characteristics of the Field RR Lyrae Stars in the Magellanic Clouds

1974 ◽  
Vol 59 ◽  
pp. 107-108
Author(s):  
J. A. Graham
Keyword(s):  
Stellar Evolution ◽  
Large Magellanic Cloud ◽  
Variable Stars ◽  
Magellanic Cloud ◽  
Magellanic Clouds ◽  
Light Curves ◽  
Rr Lyrae Stars ◽  
Rr Lyrae ◽  
First Results ◽  
Lyrae Stars

The Magellanic Clouds are well known as being very suitable for observing the various stages of stellar evolution. During the last few years, I have been studying the RR Lyrae variable stars in each of the two Clouds. Some first results were reported at IAU Colloquium No. 21 in 1972 (Graham, 1973). Here, I would like to update these results on the basis of more recent data and to comment on some of the characteristics of the field RR Lyrae stars in each system. Periods and light curves are now available for 63 RR Lyrae stars in a 1° x 1.3° field centered on the cluster NGC 1783 in the Large Magellanic Cloud (LMC) and for 62 stars in a 1° x 1.3° field centered on the cluster NGC 121 in the Small Magellanic Cloud (SMC). Both ab and c type variables are represented and, viewed individually, the Cloud RR Lyraes are identical in characteristics to those known in our Galaxy. Studied as groups, however, there are small but significant differences between the RR Lyrae stars in each system. The following four specific features seem to be emerging from the study.

scholarly journals Variable Stars and Evolution in Globular Clusters

1973 ◽  
Vol 21 ◽  
pp. 187-195
Author(s):  
Pierre Demarque
Keyword(s):  
Globular Clusters ◽  
Main Sequence ◽  
Absolute Magnitude ◽  
Variable Stars ◽  
Rr Lyrae Stars ◽  
The Past ◽  
Rr Lyrae ◽  
Lyrae Stars ◽  
Distance Indicators

Traditionally, cluster variables have been used as distance indicators and have in this sense played an important role in our understanding of stellar evolution. In particular, the determination of the distance moduli of globular clusters and of the absolute magnitude of the main sequence turnoff, thus yielding the ages of the cluster, have relied heavily in the past on observations of RR Lyrae stars.

scholarly journals Evolutionary Models of RR Lyrae Stars

1993 ◽  
Vol 139 ◽  
pp. 294-303
Author(s):  
Young-Wook Lee
Keyword(s):  
Variable Stars ◽  
Mass Star ◽  
Supporting Evidence ◽  
Evolutionary Models ◽  
Rr Lyrae Stars ◽  
Cosmological Distance Scale ◽  
Rr Lyrae ◽  
Low Mass ◽  
Lyrae Stars ◽  
Distance Indicators

As tracers of old stellar populations and as primary Population II standard candles, RR Lyrae stars have played an important role in the development of modern astronomy. Our knowledge of stellar evolution has identified these variable stars in a core helium burning phase of low-mass star evolution, the hoiizontal-branch (HB) phase. Consequently, not only to understand fully the nature of RR Lyrae stars, but also to apply them correctly as population probes and distance indicators, we must understand the underlying evolutionary effect of HB stars.In this paper, I briefly review the most important properties of RR Lyrae stars predicted from the HB evolutionary models, and present many pieces of supporting evidence for these models. For the implications of these models on the chronology of the Galactic formation and on the cosmological distance scale, the reader is referred to several recent publications by Lee (1992a,b,c,d).

scholarly journals The galactic distance scale

1979 ◽  
Vol 84 ◽  
pp. 195-200 ◽  
Author(s):  
J. A. Graham
Keyword(s):  
Recent Work ◽  
Galactic Center ◽  
Variable Stars ◽  
Distance Scale ◽  
Rr Lyrae ◽  
A Value ◽  
The Galaxy ◽  
Distance Indicators

Recent work on the distance scale of the Galaxy has largely been in the direction of refining previously established methods. The RR Lyrae variable stars appear to be better distance indicators than was once thought and they have been used in determining Ro, the distance to the Galactic center. Ro is probably somewhat less than 10 kpc but greater than 7 kpc. Most methods point to a value near 8.5 kpc.

scholarly journals Wide-field variability survey of the globular cluster NGC 4833

2013 ◽  
Vol 9 (S301) ◽  
pp. 441-442
Author(s):  
Grzegorz Kopacki
Keyword(s):  
Globular Cluster ◽  
Variable Stars ◽  
Wide Field ◽  
Red Giants ◽  
Type Ii ◽  
Rr Lyrae Stars ◽  
Preliminary Results ◽  
Rr Lyrae ◽  
Lyrae Stars ◽  
Field Variability

AbstractWe present preliminary results of the variability survey in the field of the globular cluster NGC 4833. We observed all 34 variable stars known in the cluster. In addition, we have found two new SX Phoenicis stars, one new RR Lyrae star, twelve new eclipsing systems mostly of the W Ursae Majoris type, nine new variable red giants, and ten new field-stars showing irregular variations. Properties of RR Lyrae stars indicate that NGC 4833 is an Oosterhoff's type II globular cluster.

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