Open AccessPulsational M V versus [Fe/H] relation(s) for globular cluster RR Lyrae variables
Author(s) -
Caputo F.,
Castellani V.,
Marconi M.,
Ripepi V.
Publication year - 2000
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.1365-8711.2000.03591.x
Subject(s) - rr lyrae variable , globular cluster , physics , distance modulus , astrophysics , large magellanic cloud , cepheid variable , absolute magnitude , variable star , stars , overtone , cluster (spacecraft) , star cluster , metallicity , astronomy , spectral line , computer science , programming language
We use the results from recent computations of updated non‐linear convective pulsating models to constrain the distance modulus of Galactic globular clusters through the observed periods of first‐overtone (RR c ) pulsators. The resulting relation between the mean absolute magnitude of RR Lyrae stars 〈 M V (RR)〉 and the heavy element content [Fe/H] appears well in the range of several previous empirical calibrations, but with a non‐linear dependence on [Fe/H] so that the slope of the relation increases when moving towards larger metallicities. On this ground, our results suggest that metal‐poor ([Fe/H]<−1.5) and metal‐rich ([Fe/H]>−1.5) variables follow two different linear 〈 M V (RR)〉−[Fe/H] relations. Application to RR Lyrae stars in the metal‐poor globular clusters of the Large Magellanic Cloud (LMC) provides an LMC distance modulus of the order of 18.6 mag, thus supporting the ‘long’ distance scale. The comparison with recent predictions based on updated stellar evolution theory is briefly presented and discussed.