Open AccessThe bright southern Cepheid β Doradus: the radial velocity curve, distance and size
Author(s) -
Taylor Melinda M.,
Booth Andrew J.
Publication year - 1998
Publication title -
monthly notices of the royal astronomical society
Language(s) - English
Resource type - Journals
SCImago Journal Rank - 2.058
H-Index - 383
eISSN - 1365-2966
pISSN - 0035-8711
DOI - 10.1046/j.1365-8711.1998.01670.x
Subject(s) - cepheid variable , physics , radial velocity , astrophysics , light curve , astronomy , stars
A new high‐accuracy velocity curve is presented for the bright southern Cepheid β Doradus (HR 1922), and an investigation into the long‐term stability of the velocity curve is made. An upper limit of 0.57 km s −1 is placed on cycle‐to‐cycle variations. This work is compared with a similar analysis previously applied to the long‐period Cepheid ℓ Carinae (HR 3884). Using a near‐infrared variant of the Barnes–Evans method, the mean radius of and distance to β Dor are found to be R = 67.8 ± 0.7 R⊙ and d = 349 ± 4 pc. The systematic errors in these parameters are less than 3 per cent. If these systematics can be resolved, through the development of advanced theoretical models and/or the direct measurement of angular diameters, a calibration of the cosmic distance scale to better than 1 per cent can be achieved.