scholarly journals RR Lyrae to understand the Galactic halo

2015 ◽  
Vol 11 (S317) ◽  
pp. 77-82
Author(s):  
Giuliana Fiorentino
Keyword(s):  
Globular Clusters ◽  
Galactic Halo ◽  
Large Magellanic Cloud ◽  
Rr Lyrae Stars ◽  
Halo Structure ◽  
Intrinsic Nature ◽  
Rr Lyrae ◽  
Dwarf Spheroidals ◽  
Lyrae Stars

AbstractWe present recent results obtained using old variable RR Lyrae stars on the Galactic halo structure and its connection with nearby dwarf galaxies. We compare the period and period-amplitude distributions for a sizeable sample of fundamental mode RR Lyrae stars (RRab) in dwarf spheroidals (~1300 stars) with those in the Galactic halo (~16'000 stars) and globular clusters (~1000 stars). RRab in dwarfs –as observed today– do not appear to follow the pulsation properties shown by those in the Galactic halo, nor they have the same properties as RRab in globulars. Thanks to the OGLE experiment we extended our comparison to massive metal–rich satellites like the dwarf irregular Large Magellanic Cloud (LMC) and the Sagittarius (Sgr) dwarf spheroidal. These massive and more metal–rich stellar systems likely have contributed to the Galactic halo formation more than classical dwarf spheroidals.Finally, exploiting the intrinsic nature of RR Lyrae as distance indicators we were able to study the period and period amplitude distributions of RRab within the Halo. It turned out that the inner and the outer Halo do show a difference that may suggest a different formation scenario (in situ vs accreted).

scholarly journals Tango for three: Sagittarius, LMC, and the Milky Way

2020 ◽  
Vol 501 (2) ◽  
pp. 2279-2304
Author(s):  
Eugene Vasiliev ◽  
Vasily Belokurov ◽  
Denis Erkal
Keyword(s):  
Milky Way ◽  
Galactic Halo ◽  
Large Magellanic Cloud ◽  
Rr Lyrae Stars ◽  
Rr Lyrae ◽  
Tentative Evidence ◽  
Virial Mass ◽  
Lyrae Stars ◽  
Astrometric Data ◽  
Gaia Dr2

ABSTRACT We assemble a catalogue of candidate Sagittarius stream members with 5D and 6D phase-space information, using astrometric data from Gaia DR2, distances estimated from RR Lyrae stars, and line-of-sight velocities from various spectroscopic surveys. We find a clear misalignment between the stream track and the direction of the reflex-corrected proper motions in the leading arm of the stream, which we interpret as a signature of a time-dependent perturbation of the gravitational potential. A likely cause of this perturbation is the recent passage of the most massive Milky Way satellite – the Large Magellanic Cloud (LMC). We develop novel methods for simulating the Sagittarius stream in the presence of the LMC, using specially tailored N-body simulations and a flexible parametrization of the Milky Way halo density profile. We find that while models without the LMC can fit most stream features rather well, they fail to reproduce the misalignment and overestimate the distance to the leading arm apocentre. On the other hand, models with an LMC mass in the range $(1.3\pm 0.3)\times 10^{11}\, \mathrm{M}_\odot$ rectify these deficiencies. We demonstrate that the stream can not be modelled adequately in a static Milky Way. Instead, our Galaxy is required to lurch toward the massive in-falling Cloud, giving the Sgr stream its peculiar shape and kinematics. By exploring the parameter space of Milky Way potentials, we determine the enclosed mass within 100 kpc to be $(5.6\pm 0.4)\times 10^{11}\, \mathrm{M}_\odot$, and the virial mass to be $(9.0\pm 1.3)\times 10^{11}\, \mathrm{M}_\odot$, and find tentative evidence for a radially-varying shape and orientation of the Galactic halo.

scholarly journals RR Lyrae variables in globular clusters and nearby galaxies

2004 ◽  
Vol 193 ◽  
pp. 113-123
Author(s):  
M. Catelan
Keyword(s):  
Globular Cluster ◽  
Globular Clusters ◽  
Galactic Halo ◽  
Light Curves ◽  
Rr Lyrae Stars ◽  
Rr Lyrae ◽  
Nearby Galaxies ◽  
Lyrae Stars

AbstractI point out that the Oosterhoff dichotomy for globular cluster and field RR Lyrae stars may place the strongest constraints so far on the number of dwarf spheroidal-like protogalactic fragments that may have contributed to the formation of the Galactic halo. The first calibration of the RR Lyrae period-luminosity relation in I, J, H, K taking evolutionary effects into account is provided. Problems in the interpretation of RR Lyrae light curves and evolutionary properties are briefly reviewed.

scholarly journals Looking for building blocks of the Galactic halo: variable stars in the Fornax, Bootes I, Canes Venatici II dwarfs and in NGC 2419

2009 ◽  
Vol 5 (S266) ◽  
pp. 411-411
Author(s):  
Claudia Greco ◽  
Gisella Clementini ◽  
E. V. Held ◽  
E. Poretti ◽  
M. Catelan ◽  
...  
Keyword(s):  
Galaxy Formation ◽  
Globular Clusters ◽  
Galactic Halo ◽  
Stellar Populations ◽  
Variable Stars ◽  
Star Formation History ◽  
Image Subtraction ◽  
Rr Lyrae Stars ◽  
Rr Lyrae ◽  
Lyrae Stars

AbstractΛ cold-dark-matter hierarchical models of galaxy formation suggest that the halo of the Milky Way (MW) has been assembled, at least in part, through accretion of protogalactic fragments partially resembling the present-day dwarf spheroidal (dSph) satellites of the MW. Investigation of the stellar populations of the MW's globular clusters (GCs) and dSph companions can thus provide excellent tests to infer the dominant Galaxy-formation scenario, whether merger/accretion or cloud collapse. Pulsating variable stars offer a very powerful tool in this context, since variables of different types allow tracing the different stellar generations in a galaxy and to reconstruct the galaxy's star-formation history and assembly back to the first epochs of galaxy formation. In particular, the RR Lyrae stars, belonging to the old population (t > 10 Gyr), witnessed the epoch of halo formation, and thus hold a crucial role to identify the MW satellites that may have contributed to build up the Galactic halo. In the MW, most GCs with an RR Lyrae population sharply divide into two distinct groups (Oosterhoff types I and II) based on the mean periods and relative proportion of fundamental-mode (RRab) and first-overtone (RRc) RR Lyrae stars. On the other hand, the Galactic-halo field RR Lyrae stars show a dominance of Oosterhoff I properties. Here, we investigate the Oosterhoff properties of a number of different stellar systems, starting from relatively undisturbed dwarf galaxies (the Fornax dSph and its globular clusters), through distorted and tidally disrupting ones (the Bootes and Canes Venatici II dSphs), to possible final relics of the disruption process (the Galactic globular cluster NGC 2419). We are addressing the crucial question of whether the RR Lyrae pulsation properties in these systems conform to the Oosterhoff dichotomy characterizing the MW variables. If they do not, the Galaxy's halo cannot have been assembled by dSph-like protogalactic fragments resembling the present-day dSph companions of the MW. We have reduced and combined long time series from different telescopes, both ground- and space-based. Variable stars have been detected with image-subtraction techniques using the package isis2.1. Periods, amplitudes and Oosterhoff type for all variable stars, as well as color–magnitude diagrams of the stellar populations are discussed for each stellar cluster analyzed.

scholarly journals General Properties of the Two Groups of Globular Clusters and Their Variable Stars

1975 ◽  
Vol 67 ◽  
pp. 541-543
Author(s):  
A. V. Mironov ◽  
N. N. Samus'
Keyword(s):  
Chemical Composition ◽  
Globular Clusters ◽  
Variable Stars ◽  
Rr Lyrae Stars ◽  
General Properties ◽  
Rr Lyrae ◽  
Lyrae Stars

The dependences of the numbers of variable stars in globular clusters on the chemical composition are studied. For given metallicity the numbers of RR Lyrae stars reduced to some definite total number of stars in the cluster are different for the two groups of globular clusters introduced by Mironov.

scholarly journals The MACHO Project Large Magellanic Cloud Variable Star Inventory. XI. Frequency Analysis of the Fundamental‐Mode RR Lyrae Stars

2003 ◽  
Vol 598 (1) ◽  
pp. 597-609 ◽  
Author(s):  
C. Alcock ◽  
D. R. Alves ◽  
A. Becker ◽  
D. Bennett ◽  
K. H. Cook ◽  
...  
Keyword(s):  
Frequency Analysis ◽  
Fundamental Mode ◽  
Variable Star ◽  
Large Magellanic Cloud ◽  
Magellanic Cloud ◽  
Rr Lyrae Stars ◽  
Rr Lyrae ◽  
Lyrae Stars

On the Two Oosterhoff Groups of Globular Clusters

1973 ◽  
Vol 21 ◽  
pp. 196-196
Author(s):  
T. S. Van Albada ◽  
Norman Baker
Keyword(s):  
Stellar Evolution ◽  
Globular Clusters ◽  
Transition Point ◽  
Transition Period ◽  
Observational Evidence ◽  
Horizontal Branch ◽  
Average Difference ◽  
Rr Lyrae Stars ◽  
Rr Lyrae ◽  
Lyrae Stars

AbstractThe observational evidence leading to the classification, following Oosterhoff, of globular clusters containing RR Lyrae stars into two distinct groups, is summarized and discussed in the light of results of stellar evolution theory and pulsation theory. The dichotomy is caused, at least in part, by a dichotomy in the ‘transition period’ between the type-ab and type-c stars which reflects a difference in effective temperature at the transition point. When this difference is accounted for, there remains a smaller average difference between the groups, though no longer a clear dichotomy, that is probably a mass and luminosity effect. If this remaining difference is interpreted as a luminosity effect the average difference in luminosity between the two Oosterhoff groups is at most 0.1 mag. It is suggested that Christy’s theoretical relationship between transition period and luminosity cannot be valid, at least not for clusters of different Oosterhoff groups. It is conjectured that the transition-temperature dichotomy may be a reflection of different predominant directions of evolution along the horizontal branch, accompanied by a hysteresis effect in the pulsations.

scholarly journals Light Curves and Metal Abundances of RR Lyrae Variables in the Bar of the Large Magellanic Cloud

2000 ◽  
Vol 176 ◽  
pp. 172-175 ◽  
Author(s):  
G. Clementini ◽  
A. Bragaglia ◽  
L. Di Fabrizio ◽  
E. Carretta ◽  
R. G. Gratton
Keyword(s):  
Large Magellanic Cloud ◽  
Magellanic Cloud ◽  
Light Curves ◽  
Photometric System ◽  
Rr Lyrae Stars ◽  
Rr Lyrae ◽  
Visual Magnitude ◽  
Metal Abundance ◽  
Definition Of ◽  
Lyrae Stars

AbstractThe Large Magellanic Cloud (LMC) is widely considered a corner-stone of the astronomical distance scale. However, a difference of 0.2−0.3 mag exists in its distance as predicted by the short and long distance scales. Distances to the LMC from Population II objects are founded on the RR Lyrae variables. We have undertaken an observational campaign devoted to the definition of the average apparent luminosity, and to the study of the mass–metallicity relation for RR Lyrae stars in the bar of the LMC. These are compared with analogous quantities for cluster RR Lyrae stars. The purpose is to see whether an intrinsic difference in luminosity, possibly due to a difference in mass, might exist between field and cluster RR Lyrae stars, which could be responsible for the well-known dichotomy between short and long distance scales. Preliminary results are presented on the V and B − V light curves, the average apparent visual magnitude, and the pulsational properties of 102 RR Lyrae stars in the bar of the LMC, observed at ESO in January 1999. The photometric data are accurately tied to the Johnson photometric system. Comparison is presented with the photometry of RR Lyrae stars in the bar of the LMC obtained by the MACHO collaboration (Alcock et al. 1996). Our sample includes 9 double-mode RR Lyrae stars selected from Alcock et al. (1997) for which an estimate of the metal abundance from the ΔS method is presented.

scholarly journals WEAK GALACTIC HALO-DWARF SPHEROIDAL CONNECTION FROM RR LYRAE STARS

2014 ◽  
Vol 798 (1) ◽  
pp. L12 ◽  
Author(s):  
Giuliana Fiorentino ◽  
Giuseppe Bono ◽  
Matteo Monelli ◽  
Peter B. Stetson ◽  
Eline Tolstoy ◽  
...  
Keyword(s):  
Galactic Halo ◽  
Rr Lyrae Stars ◽  
Rr Lyrae ◽  
Lyrae Stars

scholarly journals Standard Galactic field RR Lyrae II: a Gaia DR2 calibration of the period–Wesenheit–metallicity relation

2019 ◽  
Vol 490 (3) ◽  
pp. 4254-4270 ◽  
Author(s):  
Jillian R Neeley ◽  
Massimo Marengo ◽  
Wendy L Freedman ◽  
Barry F Madore ◽  
Rachael L Beaton ◽  
...  
Keyword(s):  
Near Infrared ◽  
Large Magellanic Cloud ◽  
Magellanic Cloud ◽  
Distance Modulus ◽  
Rr Lyrae Stars ◽  
Galactic Field ◽  
Rr Lyrae ◽  
Lyrae Stars ◽  
Distance Indicators ◽  
Made In

ABSTRACT RR Lyrae stars have long been popular standard candles, but significant advances in methodology and technology have been made in recent years to increase their precision as distance indicators. We present multiwavelength (optical UBVRcIc and Gaia G, BP, RP; near-infrared JHKs; mid-infrared [3.6], [4.5]) period–luminosity–metallicity (PLZ), period–Wesenheit–metallicity (PWZ) relations, calibrated using photometry obtained from the Carnegie RR Lyrae Program and parallaxes from the Gaia second data release for 55 Galactic field RR Lyrae stars. The metallicity slope, which has long been predicted by theoretical relations, can now be measured in all passbands. The scatter in the PLZ relations is on the order of 0.2 mag, and is still dominated by uncertainties in the parallaxes. As a consistency check of our PLZ relations, we also measure the distance modulus to the globular cluster M4, the Large Magellanic Cloud and the Small Magellanic Cloud, and our results are in excellent agreement with estimates from previous studies.

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