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

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.

2018 ◽  
Vol 14 (S344) ◽  
pp. 86-89
Author(s):  
Anna M. Jacyszyn-Dobrzeniecka ◽  

AbstractWe present a three-dimensional structure of the Magellanic System using over 9 000 Classical Cepheids and almost 23 000 RR Lyrae stars from the OGLE Collection of Variable Stars. Given the vast coverage of the OGLE-IV data and very high completeness of the sample, we were able to study the Magellanic System in great details.We very carefully studied the distribution of both types of pulsators in the Magellanic Bridge area. We show that there is no evident physical connection between the Clouds in RR Lyrae stars distribution. We only see the two extended structures overlapping. There are few classical Cepheids in the Magellanic Bridge area that seem to form a genuine connection between the Clouds. Their on-sky locations match very well young stars and neutral hydrogen density contours. We also present three-dimensional distribution of classical pulsators in both Magellanic Clouds.


2015 ◽  
Vol 11 (S317) ◽  
pp. 116-119
Author(s):  
Pawel Pietrukowicz ◽  

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.


2019 ◽  
Vol 623 ◽  
pp. A116 ◽  
Author(s):  
Pierre Kervella ◽  
Alexandre Gallenne ◽  
Nancy Remage Evans ◽  
Laszlo Szabados ◽  
Frédéric Arenou ◽  
...  

Context. Classical Cepheids (CCs) and RR Lyrae stars (RRLs) are important classes of variable stars used as standard candles to estimate galactic and extragalactic distances. Their multiplicity is imperfectly known, particularly for RRLs. Astoundingly, to date only one RRL has convincingly been demonstrated to be a binary, TU UMa, out of tens of thousands of known RRLs. Aims. Our aim is to detect the binary and multiple stars present in a sample of Milky Way CCs and RRLs. Methods. In the present article, we combine the HIPPARCOS and Gaia DR2 positions to determine the mean proper motion of the targets, and we search for proper motion anomalies (PMa) caused by close-in orbiting companions. Results. We identify 57 CC binaries from PMa out of 254 tested stars and 75 additional candidates, confirming the high binary fraction of these massive stars. For 28 binary CCs, we determine the companion mass by combining their spectroscopic orbital parameters and astrometric PMa. We detect 13 RRLs showing a significant PMa out of 198 tested stars, and 61 additional candidates. Conclusions. We determine that the binary fraction of CCs is likely above 80%, while that of RRLs is at least 7%. The newly detected systems will be useful to improve our understanding of their evolutionary states. The discovery of a significant number of RRLs in binary systems also resolves the long-standing mystery of their extremely low apparent binary fraction.


1973 ◽  
Vol 21 ◽  
pp. 187-195
Author(s):  
Pierre Demarque

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.


1993 ◽  
Vol 139 ◽  
pp. 294-303
Author(s):  
Young-Wook Lee

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).


1975 ◽  
Vol 67 ◽  
pp. 541-543
Author(s):  
A. V. Mironov ◽  
N. N. Samus'

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.


2004 ◽  
Vol 193 ◽  
pp. 502-505
Author(s):  
M. Marconi ◽  
G. Bono ◽  
T.E. Nordgren

Abstract We present the period-radius relations predicted by nonlinear convective models of Classical Cepheids and RR Lyrae stars. For the former variables we show that the metallicity effect is negligible for both fundamental and first overtone pulsators. This confirms the power of the period-radius relation to estimate Cepheid radii and in turn distances. For the latter class of variables we show that the dispersion of the period-radius relation of both fundamental and first overtone pulsators is significantly reduced once the metallicity dependence is taken into account. This provides a robust method to evaluate the radius of observed RR Lyrae with measured period and metal abundance.


2022 ◽  
Vol 258 (1) ◽  
pp. 20
Author(s):  
Iminhaji Ablimit ◽  
Gang Zhao ◽  
Uy. Teklimakan ◽  
Jian-Rong Shi ◽  
Kunduz Abdusalam

Abstract In order to study the Milky Way, RR Lyrae (RRL) variable stars identified by Gaia, ASAS-SN, and ZTF sky survey projects have been analyzed as tracers in this work. Photometric and spectroscopic information of 3417 RRLs including proper motions, radial velocity, and metallcity are obtained from observational data of Gaia, LAMOST, GALAH, APOGEE, and RAVE. Precise distances of RRLs with typical uncertainties less than 3% are derived by using a recent comprehensive period–luminosity–metallicity relation. Our results from kinematical and chemical analysis provide important clues for the assembly history of the Milky Way, especially for the Gaia–Sausage ancient merger. The kinematical and chemical trends found in this work are consistent with those of recent simulations that indicated that the Gaia–Sausage merger had a dual origin in the Galactic thick disk and halo. As recent similar works have found, the halo RRL sample in this work contains a subset of radially biased orbits besides a more isotropic component. This higher orbital anisotropy component amounts to β ≃ 0.8, and it contributes between 42% and 83% of the halo RRLs at 4 < R( kpc) < 20.


2012 ◽  
Vol 8 (S289) ◽  
pp. 101-108 ◽  
Author(s):  
Carla Cacciari

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.


1988 ◽  
Vol 98 ◽  
pp. 188-189
Author(s):  
M.S. Frolov

Let us divide variable stars into two main groups: the first “classical” group, includes objects known for a long time, such as Cepheids, RR-Lyrae stars, Miras, cataclysmic variables, eclipsing binaries, etc. The second group includes micropulsating variables of δ Scuti and β Cephei types, magnetic variables, rotating variables of BY Draconis type, etc.Historically, the contribution of amateurs in investigating the first group was very significant, and it continues to increase. On the other hand, involvement in studying the second group of stars was practically equal to zero some years ago, but today one can see the beginnings of an expansion of amateur work on this second group of variables – among brighter objects, of course. One reason is the beginning of cooperation between amateurs and professional astronomers having powerful instruments.


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